Greenland’s municipal reform is facing growing resistance from communities that say the large municipalities created since 2009 have moved political decisions and public services too far away. On 11 September, residents of Nanortalik and five nearby settlements in southern Greenland will vote in a consultative referendum on whether to leave Kommune Kujalleq and recreate a separate municipality. Similar votes have already produced majorities for splitting municipalities in the north and centre of the country.
The referendum will involve Nanortalik and the settlements of Narsarmijit, Aappilattoq, Tasiusaq, Ammassivik and Alluitsup Paa. The result will not automatically change Greenland’s municipal map. It will instead be submitted to Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament, which has the authority to decide whether a new municipality should be created. Sermitsoq reported that more than 500 signatures had already been collected in the area in 2024 in support of leaving Kommune Kujalleq.
The Greenland municipal reform created much larger authorities
The dispute goes back to the 2009 municipal reform, when Greenland reduced its 18 municipalities to four. The purpose was partly economic and administrative: larger municipalities were expected to manage more responsibilities, pool expertise and provide public services more efficiently. The structure was later adjusted, and Greenland has had five municipalities since the former Qaasuitsup Kommunia was divided.
But the reform also substantially increased the geographical distance between many communities and their municipal headquarters. In a country where settlements are separated by large distances and often have no road connections between them, administrative centralisation can also mean that political institutions are physically far away.
According to Najaaraq Demant-Poort, a PhD researcher and assistant professor at the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik) who studies social and institutional trust, the economic case for centralisation was accompanied by an expectation that municipalities would provide more equal services. Instead, some communities believe that services and opportunities have deteriorated after local administrative functions were removed.
Speaking to DR, she said residents in some towns feel that political decision-making has become more distant and that their communities receive insufficient priority when it comes to development, employment and new economic opportunities.
Nanortalik is the third challenge to Greenland’s large municipalities
The vote in southern Greenland is not an isolated case. Avannaata Kommunia held a consultative referendum on division in 2024, followed by Qeqqata Kommunia in 2025. In both cases, participating voters backed splitting the municipality.
Nanortalik will therefore become the third area in three years to formally test support for reversing part of the process that created Greenland’s large municipalities.
Minik Serano Frederiksen, a member of the Kommune Kujalleq municipal council and one of the organisers behind the 2024 petition, told DR that the campaign should not be interpreted as opposition to the municipality itself.
“It is about our belief that Nanortalik has the potential to stand more independently,” he said, arguing that residents want greater local influence over the town’s development.
The pattern from north to south suggests that the debate has developed beyond individual disputes over municipal boundaries. It increasingly concerns the balance between administrative efficiency and local political influence in Greenland.
A 2024 evaluation found deep dissatisfaction outside main towns
An official evaluation of Greenland’s municipal structure, published in 2024, also documented substantial differences in how residents perceive their municipalities. The assessment examined the consequences of the existing structure and residents’ views on possible changes.
According to the evaluation as reported by DR, satisfaction differs sharply between municipal centres, other towns and smaller settlements, while confidence that municipal councils can adequately represent local interests and solve local problems is particularly weak in some communities.
The tensions are not entirely new. Greenlandic authorities had already acknowledged after earlier evaluations that the creation of larger municipalities had challenged local democracy, particularly in smaller settlements where residents reported feeling further removed from decision-makers. Official documents have also repeatedly warned that creating smaller municipalities could increase administrative costs and make it harder to recruit the specialised staff needed to provide public services.
This leaves Greenland with a difficult trade-off. Larger municipalities can theoretically share resources and expertise across wider areas, while smaller municipalities can bring political responsibility and administration closer to individual communities.
A new municipality would not necessarily mean more services
The expectations surrounding a possible division are another central issue. Demant-Poort noted that some residents associate smaller municipalities with more local funding, better services and improved case handling.
Those improvements, however, would depend on whether a newly created municipality had sufficient finances and could attract qualified workers. Previous Greenlandic government assessments have similarly warned that dividing municipalities can create additional administrative costs and organisational challenges.
The political debate is therefore moving beyond whether residents want smaller municipalities. Greenland will also have to decide whether smaller local authorities can sustainably provide the services residents expect from them.
A reform commission is now examining the organisation of Greenland’s public sector, including the consequences of the municipal system and how administration should respond to demographic change and the country’s broader ambitions for greater self-government.
The 11 September referendum in Nanortalik will not settle those questions. But after votes in Avannaata and Qeqqata, another majority in favour of division would provide further evidence that a reform originally designed to create stronger municipalities is now facing a sustained demand for more local control.
