Sørfold
Sørfold kommune | |
|---|---|
 View of Kviturfjellet and Veikdalsisen | |
 Nordland within Norway | |
 Sørfold within Nordland | |
| Coordinates: 67°13′14″N 15°48′31″E / 67.22056°N 15.80861°ECoordinates: 67°13′14″N 15°48′31″E / 67.22056°N 15.80861°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Nordland |
| District | Salten |
| Established | 1 Jan 1887 |
| Administrative centre | Straumen |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2019) | Gisle Hansen (Sp) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,637.42 km2 (632.21 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,472.10 km2 (568.38 sq mi) |
| • Water | 165.32 km2 (63.83 sq mi) 10.1% |
| Area rank | 48 in Norway |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 1,926 |
| • Rank | 286 in Norway |
| • Density | 1.3/km2 (3/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) | −2.9% |
| Demonym(s) | Sørfoldværing[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1845 |
| Official language form | Bokmål[2] |
| Website | sorfold |
Sørfold is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages in the municipality include , Mørsvikbotn, Røsvika, Rørstad, , and . The municipality surrounds the Sørfolda fjord and stretches east to the border with Sweden.
The 1,637-square-kilometre (632 sq mi) municipality is the 48th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sørfold is the 286th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,926. The municipality's population density is 1.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.4/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.9% over the previous 10-year period.[3][4]
General information[]
The municipality of Sørfolden was established on 1 January 1887 when the old municipality of Folden was divided into two: Sørfolden (population: 1,946) and Nordfold-Kjerringøy (population: 1,347). The spelling was later changed to just Sørfold. On 1 January 1894, the Movik farm (population: 30) along the Sagfjorden was transferred from Nordfold-Kjerringøy municipality to Sørfold municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Øyjord area along the Nevelsfjorden (population: 81) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Bodin. On the same date, the Mørsvikbotn area (population: 268) was transferred from Nordfold Municipality to Sørfold Municipality. On 1 January 1984, the Tårnvika and Øygården area (population: 22) along the Sørfolda fjord was transferred from Sørfold to Bodø Municipality.[5]
Name[]
The municipality is named after the Folda fjord (Old Norse: Fold). The inner part of the fjord is divided into two arms Nordfolda ("the northern Folda") and Sørfolda ("the southern Folda"). The meaning of the fjord name is unknown (maybe "the broad one").[6]
Coat of arms[]
The coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1987. The arms show a silver wheel of a turbine in a hydroelectric power plant on a blue background. The rivers around the municipality contained many rapids and waterfalls, which are partly harnessed to generate electricity. This has provided a major source of income for the community.[7]
Churches[]
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sørfold. It is part of the Salten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
| Parish (sokn) | Church Name | Location of the Church | Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sørfold | Rørstad Church | Rørstad | 1761 |
| Røsvik Church | Røsvika | 1883 | |
| Mørsvikbotn Chapel | Mørsvikbotn | 1955 |
Geography[]
Sørfold municipality is located about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of the Arctic circle. The total land area of Sørfold is 1,636.61 square kilometres (631.90 sq mi), of which 141 square kilometres (54 sq mi) is covered with permanent ice and snow, and only 265.8 square kilometres (102.6 sq mi) lies below the 150-metre (490 ft) contour line. The total length of coastline is 249 kilometres (155 mi). In 1987, only 3.2 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) of land was being actively farmed.
To the north of Sørfold is Hamarøy Municipality and to the south is Fauske Municipality. To the east, the Sørfold borders Jokkmokk Municipality in Sweden.
Rago National Park, with its wild nature dominated by bare rock, streams, and pine forest, is located in Sørfold. The glacier Blåmannsisen, one of the largest in Norway, is partly located in the municipality. There are several nature reserves. Veikdalen nature reserve, roughly 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, protects a largely undisturbed pine and birch forest (some logging before 1918) with many standing dead pine trees.[8]
There are many large lakes in Sørfold, including Andkjelvatnet, Faulvatnet, Forsvatnet, Grovatnet, Horndalsvatnet, Kobbvatnet, Kvitvatnet, Langvatnet, Leirvatnet, Litlverivatnet, Mørsvikvatnet, Nedre Veikvatnet, Røyrvatnet, Rundvatnet, Sildhopvatnet, Sisovatnet, Storskogvatnet, Straumvatnet, and Trollvatnet.
Government[]
All municipalities in Norway, including Sørfold, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.[9] The municipality falls under the Salten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.
Municipal council[]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sørfold is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:
| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 6 | |
| Conservative Party (Høyre) | 2 | |
| Red Party (Rødt) | 1 | |
| Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
| Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
| Total number of members: | 17 | |
Mayor[]
The mayors of Sørfold (incomplete list):
History[]
The small village of Mørsvikbotn is located in the north part of the municipality. About 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Mørsvikbotn lies the lake Mørsvikvatnet. In this area, Mørsry, the German army had a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II housing mostly Russian POWs. They were building the Polarbanen railway, which was intended to be a link between Fauske and Narvik. Some ruins of the camp, the foundations of the railway line, a tunnel, and roads can still be observed. A small, now empty, cemetery for fallen Russian soldiers is located close to the camp, about 50 metres (160 ft) off the left-hand side just before the single concrete bridge.
Notable people[]
- Alfred B. Skar (1896 in Sørfold – 1969) a newspaper editor, writer, trade unionist and politician
- Eivind Tverbak (1897 in Sørfold – 1982) a Norwegian novelist and children's writer
- Oddmund Ingvald Jensen (1928 in Sørfold – 2011) a cross-country skier and coach, competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics
- Thor Helland (1936 in Sørfold – 2021) a 5000 metres runner, competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics
References[]
- ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
- ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå (2020). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
- ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå (2020). "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
- ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
- ^ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 234.
- ^ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- ^ "Veikdalen naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ Hansen, Tore, ed. (2016-05-12). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
- ^ "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
- ^ "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
- ^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene 1972" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sørfold. |
Nordland travel guide from Wikivoyage- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
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