Residents of Nanortalik and five nearby settlements in southern Greenland will vote on September 11 on whether to leave Kommune Kujalleq and form their own municipality. The referendum is advisory only.
DR reports that voters in Greenland’s southernmost town will be asked whether the area should break away from Kommune Kujalleq. Ahead of the vote, public meetings have been held in the town and the surrounding settlements.
According to Sermitsiaq, the referendum covers Nanortalik plus the settlements Narsarmijit, Aappilattoq, Tasiusaq, Ammassivik and Alluitsup Paa. The same outlet reports that Kommune Kujalleq scheduled a series of public meetings in the affected communities during August 2026, with members of the municipal council’s committees taking part.
Municipal politician Minik Serano Frederiksen told DR in writing that many residents want Nanortalik to stand more on its own. Per his account, the aim is greater local influence over the town’s development, and the push is not directed against Kommune Kujalleq itself.
Not the first vote of its kind
DR notes that the vote in the south follows similar advisory referendums further north. Avannaata Kommunia and Qeqqata Kommunia held votes on splitting up in 2024 and 2025, and in both cases a majority backed division.
Najaaraq Demant-Poort, a PhD student and assistant professor at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, told DR that the referendums must be seen in light of the 2009 municipal reform. That reform cut the number of municipalities from 18 to four, adjusted to five in 2018. She said economic arguments drove the centralization, but that removing municipal headquarters created distance to services residents were used to.
As stated by the researcher, satisfaction is lowest in places where people feel their towns are being wound down. She pointed to Maniitsoq and Nanortalik as clear examples, where residents feel politics has moved further away and local jobs and business opportunities are not prioritized.
An evaluation of the municipal structure published by the Government of Greenland in September 2024 found marked differences in satisfaction between main towns, smaller towns and settlements. The report described trust that municipal councils can represent local interests as alarmingly low.
Greenland’s politicians have set up a reform commission tasked with examining how the public sector is organized. According to Demant-Poort, its work covers the consequences of the municipal reform, demographic change, and the move toward increased independence.
The final decision on redrawing municipal borders rests with Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament. Sermitsiaq reports that the result will be forwarded to political decision makers because the municipality cannot decide the matter itself. Demant-Poort said the 2024 satisfaction survey showed expectations of more money and better services, and warned the outcome could go either way if those expectations are not met.
