Uqalurait is the northernmost province of Greenland.
History[]
Uqalurait was for the most part a barren wasteland, until the mid-18th century. It was also formerly part of Tunu, until 1906. In 1767, the Greenlandic Prime Minister had the idea of building an "unescapable" prison in the far north, creating a small civilian town in the middle of the province. The population grew to about 300 by 1800, mostly due to the large prisoner population. They also sent people who attempted suicide to prison at the time, which lead to a spike in the population of Opalorpok (the name of the prison).
After trade increased in the mid-1800's, miners rushed up to Opalorpok, founding mining towns up and down the coast. The population of Uqalurait spiked to 8,000 by 1900, which lead to the Greenlandic government splitting it off from Tunu. Many of these miner towns dissipated after the demand eleviated, leading the total population to settle around five thousand. Nowadays, Uqalurait still has some large port cities in the south (such as Opalorpok or Sinniktarpok), but the northern part is mostly made of scientific research settlements. Uqalurait is home to Ublarorpok, the northernmost permanent human settlement on Earth, which is located on Takpikpok Island (OTL Kaffeklubben Island).
