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 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, Qeqertalik, Qeqqata, 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 largest protected area (the only larger protected areas all consist mostly of sea) ...

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 ...

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 Si ...

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 establish ...

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 Statio ...

(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 N ...

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 coun ...

(formerly Godthaab). These were directed by inspectors until 1924, when the officials were promoted to governors. 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

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

and Qeqertalik.

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 Qassimiut (old spellings: ''Qagssimiut'' and ''Kagsimiut'' ...

* Narsaq Municipality *

Ivittuut Municipality Ivittuut , (old spelling Ivigtût) was a municipality (from 1951 until 2008), on the coast of Arsuk Fjord in southern Greenland. With an area of just 100 km2 (600 km2 according to other sources), it was the smallest municipality of Gre ...

* 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 Maniitsoq Municipality was a municipality in Greenland until 31 December 2008. Its administrative center was Maniitsoq. Within its borders were also the settlements of Atammik, Napasoq and Kangaamiut. It was incorporated along with Sisimiut M ...

Sisimiut Municipality Sisimiut Municipality was a municipality in Greenland until 31 December 2008. Its administrative center was Sisimiut. Within its borders were also the settlements of Itilleq and Sarfannguaq, as well as the settlement of Kangerlussuaq, which has ...

*Kangaatsiaq Municipality *Aasiaat Municipality *Qasigiannguit Municipality *Ilulissat Municipality *Qeqertarsuaq Municipality Northern part: *Uummannaq Municipality * Upernavik Municipality

Tunu (East Greenland)

* Ammassalik Municipality *

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 *

( Pituffik) (

)

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