Nuuk, formerly Godthåb, administrative capital and largest city of Greenland, located at the entrance of the Godthåbsfjord (Bay of Good Hope) on the southwestern coast of the island. Nuuk's ice-free harbor helps support an extensive fishing industry. Principal fish products, processed primarily for foreign export, include cod and halibut. Nuuk is a cultural and educational center; Greenland's first and only university, the University of Greenland (1974), is here. A scientific station and oil- and gas-storage facilities are also located in the city.
Norse colonists maintained a settlement at Nuuk from the 9th through the 15th centuries, then abandoned the site. Danish settlers established the present city in 1721 as Godthåb (Danish for “good hope”); today, most of Nuuk's inhabitants are Inuit. Because of improvements in health care, Nuuk's population has more than doubled since the early 1950s. Population (1994) 12,483.
