The Kalaallit Nunaat Arctic Steppe ecoregion occupies two separate section of the island: (1) the southwestern coast of Greenland, which is that area on this island that lies across Baffin Bay from Baffin Island in Canada, and (2) the southern two-thirds of the eastern coastal areas of Greenland, which coast lies about 180 miles west and north of Iceland.

The Arctic steppe constitutes a relic of the once widespread dry mammoth steppe of the Pleistocene glacial periods. The terrain of this ecoregion is mountainous with numerous fjords cut deep into the interior and there are many islands scattered along the coast.

The bedrock is Precambian (Archaean) with steep cliffs of granite (an igneous rock) and gneiss (a metamorphic rock) dominating the coastline. Only 33% of this ecoregion is protected within Northeast Greenland National Park, and about 60% of the areas outside the national park areas are still intact.

The climate of this ecoregion is Arctic climate, which at Nuuk, Greenland has record highs in the mid fifty degrees F and record lows at nearly minus twenty degrees F. Still, due to the fine air quality and low levels of moisture in the air, in general you are able to see very, very far. Precipitation and humidity are both low in this ecoregion. Average annual precipitation in Nanortalik, in the southern portion of this ecoregion, is about 35 inches per year, whereas Upernavik, in the northwestern portion, receives less than 8 inches per year.

The usual demarcation between arctic and subarctic climates is notable and there is an exception on the southwestern coast that is found within the innermost reaches of the long fjords, which areas have a subarctic climate. Here, the temperature can rise to to high sixty degrees F in June, July or August.