The population of the city, which normally stands at 17,000, is expected to increase by 12 per cent as delegations arrive for the event, which will be the largest in the history of the Danish territory.

A mixture of summer and winter Olympic sports are featured on the programme, including Alpine skiing, badminton, basketball, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, snowboarding, table tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Futsal will also be contested alongside snowshoeing and biathlon snowshoe, as well as "Arctic sports" which will consist of traditional Inuit events.

This will see competitors compete in the one-foot high kick, two-foot high hick, Alaskan high kick, kneel jump, sledge jump and triple jump. 

Junior men and women in both classes compete in the arm pull, with men competing additionally in the airplane, one hand reach, head pull and knuckle hop.

In each class there is an all-round event based upon results from the individual events.

Dene Games, with events including finger pull, snowsnake, stick pull, hand games and pole push, are also a part of the programme.

As well as Greenland, teams will come from across the Arctic including Canadian representatives from North Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavik Quebec, Nunavut and Yukon.

Also competing will be Alaska and Russia's Yamal district, along with the Scandinavian/Russian region of Sápmi, known commonly across the world as Lapland. 

The Arctic Winter Games are held every two years with Nuuk's remoteness providing particular challenges.

Curling, gymnastics, figure skating, sled dog racing and speed skating were all axed from the programme due to logistical problems.

The mascot for the games is a seal named Kuluk with the event following the 2014 edition in Fairbanks, Alaska.

More than 2,000 athletes are expected to compete, but bad weather has delayed flights to Nuuk ahead of today's opening ceremony.

The Games were first held in Yellowknife in Canada in 1970.