Nuuk had a listed 2026 population of 20,298, making it Greenland’s largest city. It is the capital of Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and the seat of the Sermersooq municipality.
The city stands at the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord on Greenland’s southwest coast. Its name comes from the Greenlandic word for “cape,” reflecting its setting. Nuuk was founded in 1728 by the Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, who relocated his settlement from the earlier Hope Colony and named the new site Godthaab, meaning “good hope.”
Nuuk is not only Greenland’s population leader but also its main political, educational, cultural, and economic centre. A common mix-up is confusing Nuuk with Greenland’s older settlements or with the municipality of Sermersooq: Sermersooq is the larger administrative area, while Nuuk is the city. The population figure can vary by year and statistical method, but Nuuk remains decisively Greenland’s largest urban settlement.