Cape Morris Jesup

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Cape Morris Jesup (Danish: Kap Morris Jesup) is a headland in Peary Land, Greenland. It is the northernmost point of mainland Greenland and, aside from Kaffeklubben Island, the northernmost point on Earth. The cape is about 712 kilometers (442 miles) from the North Pole and sits in Johannes V. Jensen Land, roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Sands Fjord’s mouth and west of Constable Bay. The boundary between the Lincoln Sea to the west and the Wandel Sea to the east meets at the cape. About 5 kilometers (3 miles) southeast is a small river delta fed by waters from the Mary Peary Peaks in the Roosevelt Range to the south.

Robert Peary reached the cape on May 13, 1900, thinking it was the northernmost land. Later, Kaffeklubben Island was found to lie a bit farther north. The cape is named after Morris Ketchum Jesup, an American philanthropist who helped fund Peary’s expeditions. In the thin, rocky soil, Arctic poppy and purple saxifrage grow, surviving in a harsh polar desert climate with short summers lasting about 30 days.