When JD Vance and his delegation touch down at Pituffik space base in Greenland on Friday, they will be greeted by the words: “Welcome to the top of the world.” As well as being the US’s most northerly military base – and its only one on the vast Arctic island – it is also among the world’s most isolated places.
For nine months of the year, the base (formerly known as Thule airbase) in north-western Greenland is locked in by ice, although it remains accessible by plane throughout the year. For three months there is no sunlight.
