The settlement had 160 inhabitants in 2010,[2] most of whom are Danish Navy personnel, attached to Island Command Greenland headquarters.

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.

During the early years of the Cold War, the base was used by anti-submarine warfare ships of NATO, which tracked Soviet Navy submarines in the North Atlantic.

However, the Greenlandic government has successfully lobbied to keep the command intact in order to boost the local economy.

As a result, in 2012, Kangilinnguit was closed and residual military functions moved to Nuuk (Godthåb), the capital of Greenland.