Sermersooq () is a municipality in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, formed on 1 January 2009 from five previous, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital of Greenland, and it is the most populous municipality in the country, with 23,123 inhabitants as of January 2020.

Creation

The municipality consists of former municipalities of eastern and southwestern Greenland, each named after the largest settlement at the time of formation: * Ammassalik Municipality * Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality * Ivittuut Municipality * Nuuk Municipality * Paamiut Municipality

Administrative divisions

Ammassalik area

* Tasiilaq (Ammassalik) * Kuummiit (Oscarshavn) * Kulusuk (Kap Dan) * Tiniteqilaaq * Sermiligaaq * Isortoq

Ittoqqortoormiit area

* Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund) * Itterajivit

Ivittuut area

* Kangilinnguit (Grønnedal)

Nuuk area

* Nuuk (Godthåb) * Kapisillit (Lakskaj) * Qeqertarsuatsiaat (Fiskenæs)

Paamiut area

Paamiut Paamiut, also known as Frederikshåb, is a town in southwestern Greenland in the Sermersooq municipalities of Greenland, municipality. Geography Paamiut is located on the coast of Labrador Sea in the southern end of a small estuary called Ku ...

(Frederikshåb) * Arsuk

Geography

The municipality is located in south-central and eastern Greenland, with an area of . As of 2018, it is the largest municipality in the world by area, following the split of the former Qaasuitsup. As of January 2013 its population was 17,498. In the south, it is flanked by the

Kujalleq Kujalleq (Greenlandic language, Greenlandic: , ) is a municipality on the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq (formerly called Julianehåb). Creation The munic ...

municipality, with the border running alongside Alanngorsuaq Fjord. The waters flowing around the western coastline of the municipality are that of

Labrador Sea The Labrador Sea (; ) is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelf, continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, and northeast. It connects to the north with Baffi ...

, which to the north narrows down to form

Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...

separating the island of Greenland from Baffin Island. In the southwest, Ikka Fjord is best known for its eponymous ikaite columns, of a scale unknown anywhere else. In the northwest, the municipality is bordered by the

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, ) is a municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in the central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,378 as of January 2020. The administrative cente ...

municipality, and further north by the

Qeqertalik Qeqertalik (, ) is a municipality of Greenland created in 2018 from four southern regions of the former Qaasuitsup Municipality. It is the least populated municipality at a population of 6,340, despite this it is the 2nd most densely populated m ...

and

Avannaata Avannaata (, ) is a municipality of Greenland created on 1 January 2018 from the bulk of the former Qaasuitsup municipality. It encompasses an area of 522,700 km2 and has 10,726 inhabitants. Geography In the south, Avannaata is flanked ...

municipalities. The latter two borders however run north–south through the center ( 45° West meridian) of the Greenland ice sheet () − and as such are free of traffic. In the north the municipality is bordered by the Northeast Greenland National Park beyond Cape Biot, at the northern end of Fleming Fjord. In the east, near the settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, the municipal shores straddle the Kangertittivaq fjord, which opens to the cold Greenland Sea. The southeastern shores are bordered by the Anorituup Kangerlua fjord of the Irminger Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Politics

Sermersooq's municipal council consists of 19 members, elected every four years.

Municipal council

Charlotte Ludvigsen stepped down as mayor on 15 June 2022, Avaaraq S. Olsen was elected to replace her.

Transport

Sermersooq is one of two municipalities straddling the western and eastern sides of the island, but is the only municipality where settlements on both coasts are connected via scheduled flights from Nuuk Airport to Kulusuk Airport and Nerlerit Inaat Airport and reverse, operated year-round by Air Greenland. There are also local flights between Nuuk and Paamiut Airport on the west coast.

Language

''Kalaallisut'' is the name of the West Greenlandic dialect is spoken in the towns and settlements of the western coast. Danish is also in use in the bigger towns. Tunumiit oraasiat, the East Greenlandic dialect, is spoken on the eastern coast.

References

External links

* {{Regions of Denmark Municipalities of Greenland Populated places established in 2009