Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik and Angmagssalik, is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland. The Sermilik Station, dedicated to the research of the nearby Mittivakkat Glacier, is located near the town. History Prehistory to the fifteenth century The people of Saqqaq culture were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north, through what is now known as Peary Land and Independence Fjord, to be surpassed by the Dorset culture. The Norse would have been familiar with the area as the first landmark on the voyage between Iceland's Snæfellsnes peninsula and Greenland. Thule migrations passed through the area in the fifteenth century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited. Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Due to back migrations to the more densely populated western coast, the southeastern coast was deserted for another two hundred years – the region wasn't settled until late eighteenth century, with the village surviving as the only permanent settlement in the nineteenth century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area. The permanent settlement was founded in 1894 as a Danish trading station. The town was previously known as Ammassalik (old spelling: Angmagssalik). The official name change took place in 1997. Twenty-first century Alcohol consumption was banned by Greenland's self rule authority in Tasiilaq on September 7, 2021, over a two-week period until September 17 following a surge of violence & suicide in the town. Following this prohibition, reports of domestic violence had greatly decreased. Social workers from the town said that "it is only a short term solution, but necessary to put the breaks on alcohol-fueled incidents." Geography Tasiilaq is located approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the southeastern coast of Ammassalik Island, on the shore of a natural harbour in Tasiilaq Fjord, named Kong Oscars Havn by Alfred Gabriel Nathorst in 1883. The fjord is an inlet of the long Ammassalik Fjord emptying into the North Atlantic to the east of the town. The large Sermilik Fjord lies further to the west. Population With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, Tasiilaq is one of the fastest-growing towns in Greenland. The migrants are continuing the trend for population growth. Together with Nuuk, it is the only town in the Sermersooq municipality exhibiting stable growth patterns over the last two