Gratangen Municipality
Gratangen Municipality
Gratangen kommune Rivttága suohkan | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Troms og Finnmark within Norway | |
 Gratangen within Troms og Finnmark | |
| Coordinates: 68°41′24″N 17°32′30″E / 68.69000°N 17.54167°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Troms og Finnmark |
| District | Central Hålogaland |
| Established | 1 July 1926 |
| Administrative centre | Årstein |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2015) | Eva Ottesen (Ap) |
| Area | |
• Total | 312.75 km2 (120.75 sq mi) |
| • Land | 305.41 km2 (117.92 sq mi) |
| • Water | 7.34 km2 (2.83 sq mi) 2.3% |
| • Rank | #261 in Norway |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 1,091 |
| • Rank | #328 in Norway |
| • Density | 3.6/km2 (9/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) |  −5.1% |
| Demonym | Gratangsværing[1] |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Neutral |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-5414[3] |
| Website | Official website |
Gratangen (Template:Lang-sme) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Central Hålogaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årstein.[4]
The 313-square-kilometre (121 sq mi) municipality is the 261st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gratangen is the 328th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,091. The municipality's population density is 3.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.3/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 5.1% over the last decade.[5][6]
The largest settlement in the municipality is Årstein, which is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of the town of Narvik and 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of the town of Harstad. Other villages in Gratangen include Elvenes, Fjordbotn, and Hilleshamn. The European route E6 highway runs through the southeastern part of the municipality.[4]
General information
The municipality of Gratangen was established on 1 July 1926 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ibestad. The initial population of Gratangen was 1,967. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.[7]
On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.[8]
Name
The municipality is named after the Gratangen fjord (Old Norse: Grjótangr). The first element is grjót which means "stone" and the last element is angr which means "fjord".[4]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms is from modern times; they were granted on 15 June 1990. The arms are blue with a gray or white chevron to represent the mountains surrounding the Gratangen fjord.[4][9]
Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gratangen. It is part of the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.
| Parish (Sokn) | Church Name | Location of the Church | Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gratangen | Gratangen Church | Årstein | 1971 |
History
Gratangen was the site of the Battle of Gratangen, one of the first battles between the German 3rd Mountain Division under Eduard Dietl and the Norwegian 6th Division under General Carl Gustav Fleischer after the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.
Geography
The municipality encompasses the land on both sides of the Gratangen and southeast of the Astafjorden. The municipality borders Skånland to the west, Ibestad (across the Astafjorden) to the north, Lavangen to the east, and Narvik (in Nordland county) to the south.
The municipality is very mountainous, with only one third of the land being below the tree line of 250 to 300 metres (820 to 980 ft) above sea level. Most of the livable land is a narrow area along both sides of the fjord, several side valleys that branch away from the fjord, plus the Fjordbotn area at the head of the fjord.
Climate
| Climate data for Årstein | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.2 (20.8) |
−5.4 (22.3) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
1.4 (34.5) |
6.7 (44.1) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.0 (55.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
7.2 (45.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
2.7 (36.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 87 (3.4) |
79 (3.1) |
62 (2.4) |
56 (2.2) |
45 (1.8) |
55 (2.2) |
70 (2.8) |
82 (3.2) |
111 (4.4) |
136 (5.4) |
95 (3.7) |
102 (4.0) |
980 (38.6) |
| Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[10] | |||||||||||||
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Gratangen, 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.[11] The municipality falls under the Trondenes District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gratangen is made up of 15 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) | 3 | |
| Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
| Gratangen Common Political List (Gratangen Fellespolitiske Liste) | 3 | |
| Cross-Party List for Gratangen (Tverrpolitisk Liste for Gratangen) | 2 | |
| Total number of members: | 15 | |
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 7 | |
| Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 3 | |
| Gratangen Common Political List (Gratangen Fellespolitiske Liste) | 2 | |
| Gratangen Democratic List (Gratangen Demokratiske Liste) | 3 | |
| Total number of members: | 15 | |
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 | |
| Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 9 | |
| Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
| Total number of members: | 15 | |
References
- ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
- ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
- ^ a b c d Thorsnæs, Geir; Dalfest, Terje, eds. (2018-02-12). "Gratangen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Mæhlum, Lars, ed. (2019-12-24). "Troms og Finnmark". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
- ^ "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 2004-06-14.
- ^ Hansen, Tore, ed. (2016-05-12). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
- ^ "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Troms og Finnmark". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
- ^ "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 - Troms Romsa". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
External links
The dictionary definition of gratangen municipality at Wiktionary- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
Troms travel guide from Wikivoyage
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