Nuuk, formerly Godthåb, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America, and the largest city in Greenland. Its present name is the Kalaallisut for "Cape", from its position at the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in Greenland. The major cities closest to the capital are Iqaluit and St. John's in Canada and Reykjavik in Iceland.

Nuuk is the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. In January of 2010, it had a population of 15,469, making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.

The site has a long history of habitation. The area around Nuuk was first occupied by the ancient pre-Inuit, Paleo-Eskimo people of the Saqqaq culture as far back as 2200 BC when they lived in the area around the now abandoned settlement of Qoornoq. For a long time it was occupied by the Dorset culture around the former settlement of Kangeq but they disappeared from the Nuuk district before AD 1000. The Nuuk area was later inhabited by Viking explorers in the 10th century, and shortly thereafter by Inuit peoples. Inuit and Norsemen both lived with little interaction in this area from about 1000 until the disappearance of the Norse settlement for uncertain reasons during the 15th century.