Kangilinnguit

Kangilinnguit (old spelling: Kangilínguit, Danish: Grønnedal) is a settlement and a naval base in the Sermersooq municipality, located at the mouth of Arsuk Fjord^[1] in southwestern Greenland. The settlement had 160 inhabitants in 2010,^[2] most of whom are Danish Navy personnel, attached to Island Command Greenland headquarters.^[3] A road, roughly 5 kilometers long, between Kangilinnguit and Ivittuut make them the only towns in Greenland connected by roads.

History

Kangilinnguit was founded as 'Green Valley' by the United States Navy during the Second World War to protect the highly strategic cryolite quarry in the former settlement of Ivittuut. The U.S. Navy turned the base over to the Danish Navy in August 1951. During the early years of the Cold War, the base was used by anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships of NATO, which tracked Soviet Navy submarines in the North Atlantic.

Since at least the mid-1990s, the Danish Navy has proposed saving money by the headquarters staff of Island Command Greenland out of isolated Grønnedal, relocating most of the 65 to either the Greenlandic capital at Nuuk, or, bring them back to Aarhus in Jutland. However, the Greenlandic government has successfully lobbied to keep the command intact, in order to boost the local economy.

Under the terms of the "2010-2014 Danish Defense Agreement" approved by the Danish parliament on 24 June 2009, the Greenland Command will absorb the (nearly defunct) Faroe Island Command. It is unknown whether the combined command will retain the name Greenland Command, or, change to some variant of North Atlantic Command.

Population

References

External links

• Website of the Greenland Command at Kangilinnguit (Danish)
• arsukfjorden.gl − local web site with maps (Danish)