# Kitaa
**Kitaa** is the Greenlandic name for West Greenland (Danish: Vestgrønland), the country's western land region, which contains all of Greenland's larger towns and more than 90 percent of its population.[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) The name is a Greenlandic place word meaning 'west side', literally 'the area that faces the sea'.[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Greenlandic for West Greenland; the word means 'west side', literally 'the area facing the sea'[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) |
| Population | More than 90% of Greenland's population lives in Kitaa[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) |
| Towns | Kitaa contains all of Greenland's larger urban communities[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) |
| Fellow regions | Tunu (East Greenland) and Avannaarsua (North Greenland)[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) |
| Official division | A United Nations map of Greenland shows the island divided into three provinces: Avannaarsua in the north, Tunu on the east and central side, and Kitaa on the west and southwest side[2](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/10th-uncsgn-docs/econf/E_CONF.101_10_topguide12.pdf) |
| Grammar | In Greenlandic, {kəta} is a spatial noun meaning 'area to the west (of possessor)'; West Greenland appears on maps as *Kalaallit Nunaanni Kitaa*, or simply *Kitaa*[3](https://oqa.dk/assets/aitwg2ED.pdf) |
## Name and grammar
Kitaa is one of a set of Greenlandic spatial nouns that express location as a noun rather than a preposition. The stem {kəta} means 'area to the west (of possessor)', so *kitaani* literally means 'in its west-area', expressed in English as 'west of it'; *illup kitaani* means 'west of the house'.[3](https://oqa.dk/assets/aitwg2ED.pdf) Applied to [Greenland](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenland) itself, the west coast region is called *Kalaallit Nunaanni Kitaa*, 'West Greenland', with the other elements of the phrase implied when the short form *Kitaa* is used.[3](https://oqa.dk/assets/aitwg2ED.pdf)
## Place among Greenland's regions
Greenland is conventionally divided into three landsdele, or land regions: Kitaa (West Greenland), Tunu (East Greenland), and [Avannaarsua](https://www.edgepedia.org/avannaarsua) (North Greenland).[1](https://lex.dk/Kitaa) The same three-way division appears in the United Nations naming guide's outline map, which labels Avannaarsua in the north, [Tunu](https://www.edgepedia.org/tunu) on the east and central side, and Kitaa on the west and southwest side of the island.[2](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/10th-uncsgn-docs/econf/E_CONF.101_10_topguide12.pdf)
Kitaa's demographic weight follows from geography. Greenland's population of roughly 57,000 people is spread across about 70 settlements, the vast majority on the ice-free coastal fringe, with communities concentrated on the west coast where sea ice is less prohibitive and fishing grounds are more accessible.[4](https://www.everydaygeo.com/article/economic-activities-and-human-settlements-in-greenlands-dependent-areas/) Towns such as Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg) lie in Kitaa; the port authority lists Sisimiut under "Kitaa (West Greenland)" with a town population of 5,455 in 2026.[5](https://www.gronlandskehavnelods.dk/Havnelodsen/harbours/2a3f51b9-6fcb-4f12-ae5d-1e5d08e23e06.html)
## Modernization history
Kitaa also serves as a reference point in accounts of Greenland's twentieth-century development. A 1950 Danish modernization plan was meant to create social, economic, and cultural equality between Denmark and Greenland, but East Greenland, Tunu, was in a very different situation from West Greenland, Kitaa: virtually the entire population of Tunu lived by hunting marine mammals, and conditions for developing fishing were less favorable than along the western coast.[6](https://tidsskrift.dk/temp/article/download/142323/185975) In Kitaa, the aim was to exploit the commercial advantages of concentrating the population in the larger towns, creating better opportunities for welfare services, and this approach worked there; in Tunu, population concentration was counterproductive in societies that depended significantly on hunting, and Danish modernization policy in Tunu until 1959 was flawed in contrast to the policy in Kitaa.[6](https://tidsskrift.dk/temp/article/download/142323/185975)
## References
1. [Rasmussen, Rasmus Ole: "Kitaa", Lex / Den Store Danske, lex.dk](https://lex.dk/Kitaa)
2. [United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, topographic map guide showing Greenland's three provinces](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/10th-uncsgn-docs/econf/E_CONF.101_10_topguide12.pdf)
3. [Stian Lybech, *An Introduction to West Greenlandic*, 2nd edition (2022)](https://oqa.dk/assets/aitwg2ED.pdf)
4. [Economic Activities and Human Settlements in Greenland's Dependent Areas, Everyday Geo](https://www.everydaygeo.com/article/economic-activities-and-human-settlements-in-greenlands-dependent-areas/)
5. [Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), Grønlandske Havnelods](https://www.gronlandskehavnelods.dk/Havnelodsen/harbours/2a3f51b9-6fcb-4f12-ae5d-1e5d08e23e06.html)
6. [Eastern Greenlandic dissonance during the first decade of modernization, *Temp* journal](https://tidsskrift.dk/temp/article/download/142323/185975)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Ancient and historical places › Historical and cultural regions*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license