There are only two towns - and the world' s largest national park - on the 2,700-kilometre-long 
  east coast. There are both historical and natural reasons for this very sparse settlement. 
  People have indeed lived in East Greenland for certain periods during the last several thousand 
  years, but the period when the area is ice-bound and the wide belt  of ice that lasts through- 
 

  out the spring and summer have made this area very isolated - both from the rest of Greenland 
  and from the rest of the world. The first Europeans came here only just over a hundred years 
  ago, and this separation from the rest of the country is clearly reflected in the language and 
  culture of the region. The language of East Greenland is substantially different from that of West
 

  Greenland both in its pronunciation and its vocabulary. And the mythical inspiration deriving from 
  its traditional culture is expressed clearly both in the region' s handicrafts and the figures carved 
  from tusk and bone. The handicrafts in East Greenland are generally of a very high quality, so 
  there is a demand for them on the west coast of Greenland as well. 

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