Northeast Greenland N.P., Arctic Circle

To arrive at Northeast Greenland National Park is to step into a world stripped of time and colour, where silence hangs heavier than snow. Fjords, glaciers, mountain ranges, ice caps and coastal cliffs are some of the features that encapsulate the largest and remotest national park in the world. There are no roads here, no villages, no casual visitors. As a matter of fact, there is no permanent human population, but it sure is teeming with wildlife. Anything from polar bears, wolves, arctic foxes, and musk oxen to various birds, including the great northern diver, common eider, snowy owl, and ptarmigan, call this icy park home. 

At 375,000sqm (972,000km²), the Northeast Greenland N.P. is so vast that if it were a country, it would rank 29th in size out of 195. Spanning 45% of Greenland, it stretches from the island's interior to its northeast coast. Although the park covers just under half of the total land area, about 80% of Greenland is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second-largest ice mass on Earth after Antarctica. This immense ice sheet contains enough fresh water that, if it were to melt entirely, it would raise sea levels by 23ft (7m), causing severe coastal flooding. 

The park is home to several fast-moving glaciers. Zachariae Isstrøm, for instance, has been rapidly retreating in recent decades, moving at speeds of up to 6mi (10km) per year. This retreat contributes significantly to rising sea levels. Not far from Zachariae, 79 N Glacier (Nioghalvfjerdsbrae) also exhibits rapid flow, moving about 2mi (3km) per year, with a large floating ice tongue that has been shrinking dramatically. Although neither of these glaciers can measure up to the fast-moving Jakobshavn Isbræ (Sermeq Kujalleq), located in West Greenland, which has been moving about 11mi (17km) per year. 

Towering above the ice are some of Greenland’s highest and most remote ranges, including the Stauning Alps (9,324ft / 2,842m), named after Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning, and Roosevelt Range (6,329ft / 1,929m), named after U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. These belong to the East Greenland Caledonides, remnants of the ancient Caledonian mountain system that once connected eastern Greenland to northern Europe. Shaped by tectonic collisions over 400 million years ago, they are among the oldest mountains on Earth.

Between the mountains and the coast lie wide tundra valleys. These valleys serve as key habitats and seasonal corridors for wildlife, their permafrost-covered ground laced with braided rivers and dotted with lakes. In the brief summer, tiny splashes of colour burst across the landscape as mosses, lichens, and Arctic flowers cover the valleys, briefly disrupting the otherwise monochromatic palette.

Although many expeditions during the 19th and 20th centuries explored the harsh and remote regions of Northeast Greenland, a few stand out for their extraordinary achievements, driven by a deep desire to study, traverse, observe, and uncover its mysteries. Danish explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen’s 1906-1908 expedition focused on mapping parts of the island's eastern coastline, including areas near what would become the National Park. Fellow Dane Knud Rasmussen led several expeditions, most notably the 1921–1924 Greenland Expedition, during which he crossed the ice sheet and mapped the region. Another significant figure was Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who conducted anthropological studies on the area’s Inuit culture while exploring and mapping Greenland’s northeastern regions. 

The park faces major conservation challenges, mainly due to climate change. Melting ice and retreating glaciers raise sea levels, disrupting the ecosystem. Warming temperatures threaten species reliant on the Arctic climate, such as polar bears, while oil extraction, shipping traffic and contaminants pose pollution risks to wildlife.