Qeqqata Municipality

Qeqqata is Greenland's central-western municipality, home to Sisimiut—the territory's second-largest town. The municipality hosts Greenland's only fully operational mine as of 2025: the White Mountain anorthosite extraction site on the central west coast. Anorthosite, a high-purity aluminum silicate mineral, supplies industrial applications globally. KoBold Metals (backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos) is exploring for nickel in the region—part of the billionaire-funded push for critical minerals. Sisimiut serves as a fishing hub and gateway to Greenland's interior ice sheet, with growing adventure tourism. The municipality benefits from Greenland's ongoing infrastructure expansion but shares the territory's fundamental challenges: less than 100 miles of paved roads nationally, extreme winter conditions, and heavy dependence on fishing (90% of exports) and Danish subsidy ($565 million annually, 20% of GDP). Public sector employment exceeds 40% of the workforce. Greenland's total population declined by 157 in 2024 to 56,699, with Qeqqata experiencing similar demographic pressure from emigration to Denmark and internal migration to Nuuk. By 2026, the municipality's trajectory depends on whether mineral exploration converts to production before population decline accelerates.