UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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Location | Avannaata, Greenland |
Criteria | Natural: (vii), (viii) |
Reference | 1149 |
Inscription | 2004 (28th Session) |
Area | 402,400 ha (994,000 acres) |
Coordinates | 69°08′N 49°30′W / 69.133°N 49.500°W |
Ilulissat Icefjord (Greenlandic: Ilulissat Kangerlua) is a fjord in western Greenland. Located 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, the Ilulissat Icefjord runs west 40 km (25 mi) from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay just south of the town of Ilulissat.[1] Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 because of its natural beauty and the importance of the fast-moving Jakobshavn Glacier in developing the current scientific understanding of anthropogenic climate change.[1]