Kangaatsiaq

Kangaatsiaq is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality of western Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. It received formal town status in 1986, although people had lived at the site as a settlement for much longer, and an older spelling of the name is Kangâtsiaq. Its population was reported as 507 inhabitants in 2023, and nearby settlements include Attu, Niaqornaarsuk, Ikerasaarsuk and Iginniarfik. Fishing and seal hunting are the main sources of income, and a fish factory produces dried fish and shrimp. The town has a supermarket, a kindergarten, a primary school with about 150 pupils in grades one to ten (a new school building was inaugurated in August 2022) and a six-bed hostel that is the only tourist lodging. Air Greenland runs winter-only helicopter flights from Kangaatsiaq Heliport to Aasiaat Airport, and in summer and autumn the Diskoline ferry links the town by sea to Aasiaat and the neighbouring settlements. The surrounding area has Arctic wildlife, including reindeer, Arctic fox, several seal species, whales and many seabirds.