Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

is divided into five municipalities

Avannaata Avannaata (, da, Det Nordlige, lit=The Northern) 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 ...

Kujalleq Kujalleq ( Greenlandic: , da, Den Syden, lit=The South) 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 ...

Qeqertalik Qeqertalik (, da, Den Ene med Øerne, lit=The One with Islands) is a municipality of Greenland created in 2018 from four southern regions of the former Qaasuitsup Municipality. Geography Qeqertalik Municipality is flanked in the south by the ...

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, da, Centrum, lit=Centre) 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. Th ...

, and

Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...

Statistics Greenland
''Greenland in Figures, 2014''
/ref> as well as the large

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th List of largest protected areas in the world, largest protected area (the only large ...

which is

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

. The

Thule Air Base Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...

is administered by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and operates as an unincorporated

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

surrounded by territory of

Municipalities

History

Greenland was originally divided between the two colonies of

North Greenland The Northern Inspectorate of Greenland also known as North Greenland was a Danish inspectorate on Greenland consisting of the trading centers and missionary stations along the northwest coast of the island. History North Greenland was established ...

with its capital at

Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertarsuaq () is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen known as Arctic Station. ...

(formerly Godhavn) and

South Greenland The Southern Inspectorate of Greenland also known as South Greenland was a Danish inspectorate on Greenland consisting of the trading centers and missionary stations along the southwest coast of the island. Its capital was at Godthaab (modern Nuu ...

with its capital at

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

(formerly Godthaab). These were directed by inspectors until 1924, when the officials were promoted to

governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. The colonies were united in 1940 and the administration centralized at Godthaab. In 1953 a new Danish

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

promoted Greenland to full membership in the Danish state with all of its inhabitants given Danish citizenship.

Divisions and national park

For statistical and some regulatory purposes the country was divided into three divisions (''landsdele'') in 1951: West Greenland, North Greenland and East Greenland. The large

was established in 1974 encompassing the northern part of East Greenland and amended with the eastern part of North Greenland in 1988. With the advent of Home Rule in 1979, these names were Greenlandicized to

Kitaa Kitaa, originally Vestgrønland ("West Greenland"), is a former administrative division of Greenland. It was by far the most populated of the divisions, being home to almost 90% of the total population. The divisions were de facto replaced by st ...

Tunu Tunu, originally Østgrønland ("East Greenland"), was one of the three counties (''amter'') of Greenland until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Tasiilaq. The county's population in 2005 was around 3,800. The county ...

, and

Avannaa Avannaa, originally Nordgrønland ("North Greenland"), was one of the three counties ( da, amt) of Greenland, until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Qaanaaq. It was one of the least-densely-populated administrative ...

. By 2008, Kitaa had 15 municipalities, Tunu 2, and Avannaa 1.

Municipalities

In 1908 Greenland was divided into 63 municipalities with elected municipal councils. After the modernization phase started in the 1950s these were consolidated and by 1979 there were 18 municipalities. The structural reform in 2008-09 created 4 enlarged municipalities. Of these the largest,

Qaasuitsup 400px, Clockwise from top left: Ukkusissat, Upernavik, Ilulissat Icefjord">Upernavik.html" ;"title="Ukkusissat, Upernavik">Ukkusissat, Upernavik, Ilulissat Icefjord, Uummannaq Qaasuitsup (, ''Place of Polar Darkness'') was a Municipalities of ...

Kommunia, was partitioned on 1 January 2018 to form the new municipalities of

and

Kitaa (West Greenland)

Southern part: *

Nanortalik Municipality Nanortalik Municipality was a municipality in south Greenland, a sub-division of the Kujalleq municipality. Towns and settlements Nanortalik area * Nanortalik (Nennortalik) * Aappilattoq * Alluitsup Paa (Sydprøven) * Ammassivik (Sletten) * ...

Qaqortoq Municipality Qaqortoq Municipality was a municipality in south Greenland, a sub-division of the Kujalleq municipality. Towns and settlements * Qaqortoq (Julianehåb) * Eqalugaarsuit * Qassimiut * Saarloq Saarloq is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipali ...

Narsaq Municipality Narsaq Municipality was a municipality in south Greenland until 31 December 2008. The municipality consisted of Narsaq, and the settlements Qassiarsuk, Igaliku, and Narsarsuaq. Its administrative center was the town of Narsaq. It was incorporated i ...

* Ivittuut Municipality * Paamiut Municipality Central part: *

Nuuk Municipality Nuuk Municipality was one of the municipalities of Greenland until 31 December 2008. On 1 January 2009, it was merged with four other former municipalities into the new Sermersooq municipality. The central town was Nuuk. Other settlements within it ...

* Maniitsoq Municipality * Sisimiut Municipality *Kangaatsiaq Municipality *Aasiaat Municipality *Qasigiannguit Municipality *Ilulissat Municipality *Qeqertarsuaq Municipality Northern part: *Uummannaq Municipality *

Upernavik Municipality Upernavik Municipality was one of the municipalities of Greenland, until 31 December 2008, when it and seven other municipalities were consolidated to form the state of Qaasuitsup. The municipality was home to approximately 3,000 people, while 1,1 ...

Tunu (East Greenland)

Ammassalik Municipality Ammassalik was one of two municipalities in Tunu, the former county of East Greenland − the other one being Illoqqortoormiut (further north). It was located in southeastern Greenland, and with an area of 232,100 km2, most of it on the Greenland ic ...

Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality () was one of the two municipalities of East Greenland. Since 1 January 2009 it has been incorporated into the Sermersooq municipality. It encompassed an area of 235,000 km2 (91,000 sq mi) along the Den ...

(southern part) (

)

Avannaa (North Greenland)

Qaanaaq Municipality Qaanaaq Municipality was the only municipality in the county of North Greenland (Avannaa). It is now part of the municipality of Avannaata. On January 22, 1968, a B-52 crashed 11 km (7 mi) south of Thule Air Base. Nuclear bombs were lost and debr ...

(

Pituffik Pituffik is a former settlement in northern Greenland, located at the eastern end of Bylot Sound by a tombolo known as ''Uummannaq'', near the current site of the American Thule Air Base. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day to ...

) (

)

References

{{Greenland topics Subdivisions of Denmark Subdivisions of Greenland

Municipalities

History

Divisions and national park

Municipalities

Kitaa (West Greenland)

Tunu (East Greenland)

Avannaa (North Greenland)

See also

References