Salangen

Salangen kommune
Siellága suohkan
Municipality
Village of Sjøvegan

Coat of arms

Troms within
Norway

Salangen within Troms
Coordinates: 68°54′02″N 17°53′35″E / 68.90056°N 17.89306°E / 68.90056; 17.89306Coordinates: 68°54′02″N 17°53′35″E / 68.90056°N 17.89306°E / 68.90056; 17.89306
Country Norway
County Troms
District Midt-Troms
Established 1 Jan 1871
Administrative centre Sjøvegan
Government
  Mayor (2014) Sigrun W. Prestbakmo (Sp)
Area
  Total 457.96 km2 (176.82 sq mi)
  Land 438.05 km2 (169.13 sq mi)
  Water 19.91 km2 (7.69 sq mi)  4.3%
Area rank #222 in Norway
Population (2017)
  Total 2,220
  Rank #313 in Norway
  Density 5.1/km2 (13/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -0.5%
Demonym(s) Salangsværing[1]
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code NO-1923
Official language form Neutral
Website salangen.kommune.no

Salangen is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages include Elvenes, Laberg, and Seljeskog.

The municipality is situated along the Sagfjorden in south central Troms county. The municipality is mostly coastal areas around the fjord as well as some inland valleys. Salangen is home to the world's northernmost bat population.

The 458-square-kilometre (177 sq mi) municipality is the 222nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Salangen is the 313th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,220. The municipality's population density is 5.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (13/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 0.5% over the last decade.[2]

General information

Salangen map
Mountains of Salangen in February

The municipality of Salangen was established on 1 January 1871 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ibestad. The initial population of Salangen was 1,384.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Lavangen (population: 1,677) and Salangen (population: 2,611) were merged to form a new, larger Salangen Municipality with a new population of 4,288.

This merger was not popular and on 1 January 1977, it was mostly undone. Most of the old Lavangen municipality (except for the Lavangsnes area) was separated from Salangen to form a separate municipality once again. After the split, Salangen remained with 2,611 residents.[3]

Name

The municipality is named after the Salangen fjord (Old Norse: Selangr). The first element is selr which means "seal" 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 2 December 1985. The arms show a white seal on a blue background. They are canting arms since the name of the municipality is derived from the old word "Sellanger", meaning seal fjord.[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Salangen. It is part of the Indre Troms prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Churches in Salangen
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
SalangenSalangen ChurchSjøvegan1981
Elvenes ChapelElvenes1959

Geography

The municipality is located in the southern part of Troms county, at the northeastern end of the Astafjorden. The municipality of Ibestad is located west of Salangen, connected by the Mjøsund Bridge; Lavangen municipality to the south; Bardu to the east; and Dyrøy and Sørreisa to the north.

Geology

The area itself is part of the Caledonian Orogeny formed of part of a series of Nappes that run down the coast of Norway. These nappes were metamorphosed as a result of partial subduction beneath Laurentia during the early to middle Paleozoic.[6] On a smaller scale, the municipality is located mainly on quartzite (known as Sjøvegan quartzite locally and regionally as Bø quartzite). In the hills to the south, there is garnet-rich schist (known as Trollvannet schist).

Across the nearby lake Nervatnet and towards the village of Strokkenes, granite within marble is present (Høglund marble and Strokkenes granite). This granite is Leucratic, an indicative sign of granite intruded within an orogenic mountain building event.

Climate

Climate data for Sjøvegan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −6.1
(21)
−5.3
(22.5)
−2.5
(27.5)
1.4
(34.5)
6.7
(44.1)
10.7
(51.3)
12.9
(55.2)
11.8
(53.2)
7.2
(45)
2.6
(36.7)
−2.0
(28.4)
−4.5
(23.9)
2.7
(36.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 88
(3.46)
86
(3.39)
65
(2.56)
57
(2.24)
48
(1.89)
58
(2.28)
69
(2.72)
77
(3.03)
96
(3.78)
121
(4.76)
97
(3.82)
98
(3.86)
960
(37.8)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[7]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Salangen, 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.[8] The municipality falls under the Ofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Salangen is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[9]

Salangen Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet8
 Conservative PartyHøyre2
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti1
 Centre PartySenterpartiet7
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
Total number of members:19

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 (1911). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (in Norwegian) (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 52.
  5. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  6. Steltenpohl, M.G.; Andresen, A.; Lindstrom, M.; Gromet., P.; Steltenpohl, L.W. (2003). "The Role of Felsic And Mafic Igneous Rocks in Deciphering The Evolution of Thrust-Stacked Terranes: An Example from the North Norwegian Caledonides". American Journal of Science. 303: 149–185. doi:10.2475/ajs.303.2.149.
  7. "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 2004-06-14.
  8. Hansen, Tore, ed. (2016-05-12). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  9. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
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