The happiness of Greenland

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This feature has been published in Lonely Planet magazine – 2019.

Greenland – Ittoqqortoormiit, a tiny spot, high on the map of Greenland’s east coast. It is one of the most remote places on earth. No roads lead to it or away from it. Three hundred and fifty people live there surrounded by twelve hundred polar dogs. But those three hundred and fifty are by chance the happiest in the world, even if they say so themselves.

This is the last frontier. To get there in any case. It is not much different to leave there. Name another village where the inhabitants must first apply for a passport in order to be able to leave? The closest civilization is in Iceland, about 800 bouncing kilometers through the skies above the Greenland Sea. Whoever leaves Ittoqqortoormiit cannot escape the sea.

Images: Nicole Franken – Text: Anneke de Bundel

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