Administrative division of Greenland
The administrative division of Greenland describes the existing vertical administrative structures in Greenland .
Administrative division since 2009
In 2009 the previous 18 municipalities were merged into four municipalities in an administrative reform. In 2018, the Qaasuitsup Kommunia was split into the Avannaata Kommunia and the Qeqertalik Municipality , resulting in the current number of five municipalities. There are also two community-free areas .
The communes (Danish commune , Pl. Communer ) are further subdivided into districts (Danish district , Pl. Distrikter ), which correspond to the 18 communes existing up to December 31, 2008 .
| location | coat of arms | Commune | Population (2019) | Area in km² | Density in inhabitants / km² | included districts (former parishes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
Avannaata Communia | 10,522 | 584,500 | 0.018 |
Ilulissat District Uummannaq District Upernavik District Qaanaaq District |
 |
 |
Qeqertalik municipality | 6,587 | 75,500 | 0.087 |
Aasiaat District Qeqertarsuaq District Kangaatsiaq District Qasigiannguit District |
 |
 |
Qeqqata communia | 9,409 | 115,500 | 0.081 |
Sisimiut District Maniitsoq District |
 |
 |
Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq | 22,946 | 635,600 | 0.036 |
Ivittuut District Paamiut District Nuuk District Ittoqqortoormiit District Ammassalik District |
 |
 |
Kujalleq municipality | 6,442 | 32,000 | 0,201 |
Nanortalik District Narsaq District Qaqortoq District |
The huge Northeast Greenland National Park and the Thule Air Force Base ( Pituffik in Greenlandic ) do not belong to any municipality as unincorporated areas , which also applied to Kangerlussuaq with the international airport before it was incorporated into the municipality of Sisimiut .
| location | area | Consist | Population (2019) | Area in km² | Density in inhabitants / km² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Northeast Greenland National Park | since May 22, 1974 | 1 | 972,000 | 0.000001 |
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Thule Air Base | since April 27, 1951 | 73 | 658 | 0.111 |
| Kangerlussuaq | until January 1, 2002 |
Former administrative divisions
1721 to 1911
At the beginning of the colonization there was no real administrative division. With the establishment of the individual colonies, however, the first boundaries were drawn, with each colony hunting and trading in its district. From 1782, Greenland was divided into two separate parts of the country called the inspectorates . They were each headed by an inspector from 1782 to 1925 . The southern inspectorate, South Greenland , had the capital Godthåb and stretched from the south coast to Nassuttooq (Nordre Strømfjord). The Northern Inspectorate, North Greenland , had the capital Godhavn and stretched from Nassuttooq to Melville Bay at 75 ° N. Each colony became the capital of a colonial district. Over time, some residential areas in the individual districts were given a higher status and trade with the surrounding residential areas and the colony was allowed in them. From the middle of the 19th century there was a Forstanderskab as council in every colonial district . The following colonial districts existed:
| Part of the country | Colonial districts |
|---|---|
| North Greenland Inspectorate | Colonial District Upernavik colonial district Ũmánaĸ colonial district Godhavn colonial district Ritenbenk colonial district Jakobshavn colonial district Christianshaab colonial district Egedesminde |
| South Greenland Inspectorate | Colonial district Holsteinsborg Colonial district Sukkertoppen Colonial district Godthaab (had incorporated the colonial district Fiskenæsset in 1872 ) Colonial district Frederikshaab Colonial district Julianehaab |
1911 to 1950
In 1911 the Forstanderskaber were abolished. Instead, the colonial districts were further subdivided and each Udsted in the district or the colony itself became the capital of a municipality. Each parish had a parish council. In addition, both parts of the country received a regional council . In 1925 the colonial districts, which were later also called Sysler, were given a Sysselrat. In the same year the inspectors were replaced by Landsfogeder . The following communities existed within the colonial districts:
Special case of North and East Greenland
For a long time, North and East Greenland did not belong to Denmark, but were no man's land . The mission station in Ammassalik was founded in 1894 and that in Thule in 1909 . Thule was only subordinated to Denmark in 1937 and it was not until 1963 that both regions were decolonized and incorporated into the municipality.
The concentration of Danish activities on the climatically favored west coast led to Norway claiming practically the entire east coast in 1931, with the exception of the area around the already populated areas. Norway set up two administrative districts for this purpose and filled them with a few stations:
- Eirik Raudes Land with the "main town" Antarctic Havn (Sysselmann's wintering station), from 1931, from 71 ° 30 'N to 75 ° 40' N
- Fridtjof-Nansen-Land with the "main town" Finnsbu , from 1932, from 60 ° 30 'N to 63 ° 40' N
The Norwegian claims were rejected by the Permanent International Court of Justice on April 5, 1933, and Norway ended its occupation of East Greenland.
1950 to 2008
From November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008, Greenland consisted of the three parts of Kitaa (West Greenland), Avanersuaq (North Greenland) and Tunu (East Greenland). West Greenland was initially divided into sixteen parishes. The communities largely corresponded to the previous Syslern, of which there were eleven at last. Exceptions were that the Syssel Julianehåb was split into the three communities Qaqortoq, Narsaq and Nanortalik. A large part of Syssels Ritenbenk, which was dissolved in 1942, was re-established as the municipality of Vaigat, but on March 29, 1963, the villages of Saqqaq and Qeqertaq returned to the municipality of Ilulissat. The new municipality Ivittuut was separated from the Syssel Frederikshåb. The Syssel Egedesminde was also split up and the communities Aasiaat and Kangaatsiaq emerged. As of 1950 there were sixteen parishes. On January 1, 1963, the municipality of Qaanaaq in North Greenland and the two municipalities of Ammassalik and Ittoqqortoormiit in East Greenland were integrated into the municipality system by means of decolonization, so that from then on there were nineteen municipalities. In 1972 the municipality of Vaigat was incorporated into the municipality of Qeqertarsuaq due to unpopulation, which led to the existing number of eighteen municipalities by 2008.
| location | coat of arms | local community | Consist | Population (2009) |
Area in km² | Density in inhabitants / km² | main place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
Municipality of Aasiaat (Aasiaat Kommuniat) (Egedesminde Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
3.131 | 4,000 | 0.783 | Aasiaat |
 |
 |
Ammassalik Municipality (Ammassallip Kommunia) (Ammassalik Municipality) |
January 1, 1963 to December 31, 2008 |
2,998 | 243,000 | 0.012 | Tasiilaq |
 |
 |
Municipality of Ilulissat (Ilulissat Kommuniat) (Jakobshavn Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
4,958 | 47,000 | 0.105 | Ilulissat |
 |
 |
Municipality of Ittoqqortoormiit (Ittoqqortoormiit Kommuniat) (Scoresbysund Municipality) |
January 1, 1963 to December 31, 2008 |
485 | 236,000 | 0.002 | Ittoqqortoormiit |
 |
 |
Ivittuut Municipality (Ivittuut Kommuniat) (Ivittuut Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
183 | 0.305 | 600 | Kangilinnguit |
 |
 |
Kangaatsiaq Municipality (Kangaatsiap Kommunia) (Kangaatsiaq Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
1,353 | 43,500 | 0.031 | Kangaatsiaq |
 |
 |
Maniitsoq Municipality (Maniitsup Kommunia) (Sukkertoppen Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
3,408 | 79,500 | 0.043 | Maniitsoq |
 |
 |
Municipality of Nanortalik (Nanortalip Kommunia) (Nanortalik Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
2.147 | 15,000 | 0.143 | Nanortalics |
 |
Narsaq Municipality (Narsap Kommunia) (Narsaq Municipality) |
April 1, 1959 to December 31, 2008 |
1.953 | 8,500 | 0.230 | Narsaq | |
 |
 |
Nuuk Municipality (Nuup Kommunia) (Godthåb Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
15,438 | 105,000 | 0.147 | Nuuk |
 |
 |
Paamiut Municipality (Paamiut Kommuniat) (Frederikshåb Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
1,850 | 51,000 | 0.036 | Paamiut |
 |
 |
Qaanaaq Parish (Qaanaap Kommunia) (Thule Commune) |
January 1, 1963 to December 31, 2008 |
802 | 245,500 | 0.003 | Qaanaaq |
 |
 |
Qaqortoq Municipality (Qaqortup Kommunia) (Julianehåb Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
3,532 | 8,500 | 0.416 | Qaqortoq |
 |
 |
Qasigiannguit Municipality (Qasigiannguit Kommuniat) (Christianshåb Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
1,230 | 13,000 | 0.095 | Qasigiannguit |
 |
 |
Qeqertarsuaq Parish (Qeqertarsuup Kommunia) (Godhavn Commune) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
957 | 15,000 | 0.064 | Qeqertarsuaq |
 |
 |
Sisimiut Municipality (Sisimiut Kommuniat) (Holsteinsborg Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
6,278 | 36,000 | 0.174 | Sisimiut |
 |
 |
Upernavik Municipality (Upernaviup Kommunia) (Upernavik Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
2,908 | 199,000 | 0.015 | Upernavik |
 |
 |
Uummannaq Parish (Uummannap Kommunia) (Uummannaq Commune) |
November 18, 1950 to December 31, 2008 |
2,339 | 93,000 | 0.025 | Uummannaq |
|
Vaigat Municipality (Vaigatip Kommunia) (Vaigat Municipality) |
November 18, 1950 to 1972 |
1,037 (1970) |
Qullissat |
Settlement status and administration
Every settlement in Greenland has a status that has changed since 1950. The following statuses exist before and after 1950:
- Colony (Danish koloni ): The colonies were the largest places in Greenland. They formed the capital of a colony district. They were each headed by a colonial administrator. When the colony districts became parishes in 1950, the former colonies received city rights.
- Lodge (Danish: loge ): lodges were places founded by the mission and by whalers. After a short time they were absorbed in the colonies.
- Plant (Danish anlæg ): plants corresponded to the Udstedern with the exception that a trade assistant was responsible for their administration.
- Udsted (about translatable as Außenort ): Udsteder were smaller commercial centers, a Udstedsverwalter was entrusted with their management. Most of the villages later emerged from the Udstedern region.
- Living space (Danish boplads ): living places were the places with the lowest status. There was a maximum of one school band in them and there was no trade. For this, the residents had to go to the next Udsted. Most of the living spaces were given up in the middle of the 20th century as a result of the centralization policy. A few have survived and are now mostly villages.
- City (Danish by ): Cities are the main places of the districts, that is, the municipalities from 1950 to 2008. Up until 2008, each of these had a municipal council. Since 2009 there are only municipal councils in the municipal capitals.
- Dorf (Danish bygd ): Villages are smaller settlements within the districts. In 1967, the term replaced the terms Udsted and Wohnplatz. Today there are village councils in the villages, sometimes for several small villages together.
- Shepherd's settlement (Danish: fåreholdersted ): Shepherd's settlements are hamlets that are mostly located in southern Greenland and where agriculture is practiced. Despite the name, sheep do not have to be farmed there.
- Station (Danish station ): stations u. Ä. are other places with military or scientific use that are usually not inhabited by private individuals.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kommune opdeling i Grønland 2018 at cpr.dk
- ↑ Population by municipality 2019 at bank.stat.gl
- ↑ a b c d Per Ivar Haug: Gazetteer of Greenland, 2nd ed., Hommelvik 2015
- ↑ Residents Pituffik and Sirius 2019 at bank.stat.gl
- ↑ US Air Force Fact Sheet, 821st Security Forces Squadron ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 254 square miles
- ↑ Newcomer's Welcome Package, Thule Air Base, Greenland, Home of 821st Air Base Group ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 629 kB)
- ↑ Grønlands Befolkning January 1, 2007 Population statistics 2007 (as of January 1, 2007). (PDF; 124 kB) (No longer available online.) Statgreen.gl, archived from the original on November 24, 2007 ; accessed on February 11, 2009 (dk).
- ↑ Jens Christian Madsen: Udsteder og bopladser i Grønland 1901-2000 . Atuagkat, 2009, ISBN 978-87-90133-76-4 , pp. 26 .
- ↑ Population figures by district 2009 at bank.stat.gl
- ↑ Jens Christian Madsen: Udsteder og bopladser i Grønland 1901-2000 . Atuagkat, 2009, ISBN 978-87-90133-76-4 , pp. 9 .
