[3][4][5] On the northern side of the mouth of the Scoresby Sound stands Ittoqqortoormiit, the only permanent settlement in the region, with a population of 469 (in 2010).

The name of the sound honours English explorer William Scoresby, who in 1822 mapped the fjord area in detail.

The name “Sound” comes from the Scandinavian word “Sund” for “strait”, which is commonly used to describe narrow waterways between landmasses.

Its southern part is a steep, 1000–2000 m (3,280-6,560 ft) tall wall of basalt, and the northern side is lower and more rounded.

The mouth extends for about 110 km (68 mi) to the west, slightly turns north, widens, and forms a basin called Hall Bredning.

This is because of several factors, such as availability of open water in the mouth, with polynyas not freezing even in winter, protection from the winds by the high relief, and relatively fertile land.

[11] Birds are represented by barnacle goose, pink-footed goose, snow goose, whooper swan, king eider, common eider, long-tailed duck, Brunnich's guillemot, black guillemot, little auk, puffin, fulmar, herring gull, glaucous gull, great black-backed gull, kittiwake, Arctic tern, red-throated diver, great northern diver, red-breasted merganser, ptarmigan, raven, snowy owl, Greenlandic gyrfalcon, etc.