Thule (community, Greenland)

Thule (community, Greenland) or Qaanaaq, community, northwestern Greenland, situated on the Hayes Peninsula on Baffin Bay, north of Perlernerit (Cape York). The settlement was founded in 1910 by the Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen, who used it as a base for five Arctic expeditions between 1912 and 1924. The original inhabitants of the site were Inuit, and their distinct way of life came to be known internationally as Thule culture. During World War II (1939-1945) the U.S. established an air base nearby in Dundas (now Thule Air Base). It was developed as a long-range bomber base in the early 1950s, and today it is a major military installation. The Inuit have been relocated. Thule is also the site of a hospital and a radio and meteorological station.