Nutaarmiut is located some 91 km north of Upernavik on an island with the same name in Baffin Bay. In Greenlandic, the name means “the people in the new place”. There are only 38 inhabitants in Nutaarmiut (2017), which is thus the smallest place in the Upernavik district.
Provisions and subareas
The general provisions apply to all subareas of the municipalities in towns, settlements and open country areas. The provisions are general and do not consider the local conditions in the subareas.
General provisions of the Town Plan
The overall provisions for each subarea are the basis for the municipality"s granting of area allotments and building permits.
The current level of service and housing is to match the development of the settlement. Further urban development is to take place within the existing settlement area. Business development is primarily to protect and strengthen fishing, sealing and whaling. The settlements are to continue to be good dwellings for their inhabitants. The fish factory may be integrated in the settlement life, or act as an independent unit near the settlements.
Nutaarmiut’s population has decreased steadily since 1980 when it had 76 inhabitants. Its population was especially struck by the closure of Upernavik Seafood A/S’s production hall. The housing stock only consists of single-family houses.
The development in Nutaarmiut is very scattered, and there is plenty of remaining capacity for further urban development. The town plan leaves room for approximately 65 homes in the settlement.
The primary trades of Nutaarmiut are Greenland halibut fishing and sealing, but the settlements have no actual port facilities. A small area has been zoned for industrial and port purposes in the southern end of Nutaarmiut.
Naalakkersuisut has designated the water area off the harbour dock as a port authority area.
Jobs mainly lie in fishing, sealing and whaling, but the service facilities in the settlements and tourism also generate jobs. By 2015, the unemployment rate in the rural areas of the Upernavik district was 10.9% overall. This is slightly higher than Upernavik, where the unemployment rate was 9.3%. Likewise, it is slightly higher than both the municipal average (9.1%) and the national average (9.1%).
In the town plan, the remaining capacity for industry and port facilities is estimated at 24,000 m².
Neither settlement has any helistop or roads. Transport is by ship, dog sledge or snowmobile.
The settlements have no water supply or sewer system. Grey wastewater is therefore discharged above ground. The dump is located north of Nutaarmiut, where refuse is burned in the open, whereas night soil is dumped into the sea from either the newer night-soil ramp or an established pipe. Part of the night soil is, though, deposited on the dump. Power and heat supplies are handled by Nukissiorfiit, and telecommunication is handled by TELE Greenland A/S.
Service functions in Nutaarmiut include a church, a settlement library, a school and a branch office. The settlement boasts no shops or health-care facilities, nor any child-care services.
The elementary school, Nutaarmiut Atuarfiat, numbers around 5 pupils in forms 1 through 7.
The church forms the settings for all social and cultural activities in Nutaarmiut. There are no other organised leisure activities.
Furthermore, no conservation worthy buildings are appointed in Nutaarmiut.
