Ilulissat Icefjord
Denmark (Greenland) ·
Description
Ilulissat is the Arctic's iceberg factory. The Sermeq Kujalleq glacier discharges 46 km³ of ice yearly, creating floating mountains that slowly navigate to open sea. Here was born the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Under the midnight sun or northern lights, ice colossi crack, roar and roll in a spectacle of prehistoric power.
Why It's a World Heritage Site
Ilulissat Icefjord allows studying climate history and glaciology like nowhere else. The glacier is the most productive outside Antarctica. The combination of natural phenomena creates landscapes of exceptional beauty.
UNESCO Criteria
Frequently Asked Questions
For being the northern hemisphere's most productive glacier and offering a unique climate change record.
It was inscribed in 2004 under criteria (vii) and (viii).
On Greenland's west coast, Danish territory.
September-April; midnight sun is May to July.
Flight to Ilulissat from Copenhagen or Reykjavik; no roads.