Gildeskål

Gildeskål kommune
Municipality
View of Inndyr

Coat of arms
Nordland within
Norway

Gildeskål within Nordland
Coordinates: 67°01′24″N 14°04′38″E / 67.02333°N 14.07722°E / 67.02333; 14.07722Coordinates: 67°01′24″N 14°04′38″E / 67.02333°N 14.07722°E / 67.02333; 14.07722
Country Norway
County Nordland
District Salten
Established 1838
Administrative centre Inndyr
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Petter Jørgen Pedersen (Ap)
Area
 • Total 664.68 km2 (256.63 sq mi)
 • Land 622.27 km2 (240.26 sq mi)
 • Water 42.41 km2 (16.37 sq mi)
Area rank #170 in Norway
Population (2017)
 • Total 2,024
 • Rank #328 in Norway
 • Density 3.3/km2 (9/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -2.7%
Demonym(s) Gildeskålfjerding
Gildeskålværing[1]
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code NO-1838
Official language form Neutral
Website gildeskal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Gildeskål is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Bodø Region and the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inndyr. Other villages include Forstranda, Lekanger, Mevik, Mårnes, Nygårdsjøen, Saura, Storvika, Sørarnøya, Sørfinnset, and Våg.

The 665-square-kilometre (257 sq mi) municipality is the 170th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Gildeskål is the 328th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,024. The municipality's population density is 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.7% over the last decade.[2]

General information

Sørfugløy ('South Bird Island')

The municipality of Gildeskaal (later spelled Gildeskål) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

In 1853, the eastern district of Gildeskaal (population: about 1,150) was separated to become the new municipality of Beiarn. This left Gildeskaal with about 2,400 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since.[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gildeskaal farm (Old Norse: Gildaskáli) because the first church was built there (Old Gildeskål Church. The first element is the plural genitive case of gildi 'feast' or 'banquet', and the last element is skáli 'hall'.[4][5]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). The arms show a silver cup on a blue background. The arms are canting since the meaning of the name Gildeskål refers to a banquet hall.[5]

See also: Coat-of-arms of Jevnaker.

Churches

The 900-year-old Old Gildeskål Church

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gildeskål. It is part of the Bodø domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Gildeskål
Parish
(Sokn)		Church NameLocation
of the Church		Year Built
GildeskålGildeskål ChurchInndyr1881
Old Gildeskål ChurchInndyr12th century
Saura ChurchSaura1884
Mevik ChapelMevik1910
Nordstranda ChapelLekanger1963
Sørfjorden ChapelSørfinnset1957

Geography

View from Sandhornøya, in Gildeskål

Gildeskål is a coastal municipality that encompasses part of the mainland as well as many islands. Major islands include Fleinvær, Fugløya, Nordarnøya, Sandhornøya, and Sørarnøya. The southern part of the municipality includes part of the Saltfjellet mountains and the northern part of the municipality borders the Saltfjorden and the Vestfjorden.

There are many lakes in the municipality including: Fellvatnet, Langvatnet, Litle Sokumvatnet, and Sokumvatnet.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Gildeskål, 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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gildeskål is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[6]

Gildeskål Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet7
 Progress PartyFremskrittspartiet2
 Conservative PartyHøyre3
 Centre PartySenterpartiet3
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
 Local ListsLokale lister1
Total number of members:17

Buildings and structures

Sandhornøy Bridge connects the island of Sandhornøya to the mainland.

There is a VLF-transmitter in Gildeskål that is used for sending messages to submerged submarines (call sign: JXN, frequency: 16.4 kHz). It uses as antenna multiple wires spun between two mountains (photo). The transmitter building is located at 66°58′58″N 13°52′23″E / 66.98278°N 13.87306°E / 66.98278; 13.87306 (JXN transmitter).

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  3. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  4. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 182.
  5. 1 2 "Kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Gildeskål kommune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  6. ↑ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
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