Editing Upernavik (section)

== History ==
[[File:Upernavik church 2007-08-20 rectangular cropped downsampled.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|New church]]
The town was founded as Upernavik in 1772.<ref>Colton, G.W. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/uj817m Northern America. British, Russian & Danish Possessions In North America.]" J.H. Colton & Co. (New York), 1855.</ref> From the former name of its island, it was sometimes known as Women's Island; its name was also sometimes Anglicized to "Uppernavik".<ref>Walker, J. & al. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~20964~530056:British-North-America--Published-un?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No British North America.]" Baldwin & Cradock (London), 1844.</ref>

In 1824, the [[Kingittorsuaq Runestone]] was found outside the town. It bears runic characters left by [[Norsemen]], probably from the late 13th century. The runic characters list the names of three Norsemen and mention the construction of a rock [[cairn]] nearby.

This is the furthest north that any Norse artifacts have been found, other than those small artifacts that could have been carried north by [[Inuit]] traders, and marks the northern known limit of Viking exploration.

Sailors searching for lost [[North Pole|polar]] expeditions sometimes used the city as a staging ground.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sides |first=Hampton |title=In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette |pages=6}}</ref>{{clearleft}}