Ballangen

Ballangen (Northern Sami: Bálák) is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1925 until its dissolution in 2020. The 932-square-kilometre (360 sq mi) municipality was part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Ballangen. Other villages in the municipality included Bjørkåsen, Kjeldebotn, Kobbvika, and Skarstad.

This article is about the municipality in Nordland, Norway. For the village in this municipality, see Ballangen (village).

Ballangen kommune
Former municipality
Flag
Coat of arms
Nordland within
Norway
Ballangen within Nordland
Coordinates: 68°18′23″N 16°44′39″E
CountryNorway
CountyNordland
DistrictOfoten
Established1 July 1925
Disestablished1 Jan 2020
Administrative centreBallangen
Area
 • Total932.22 km2 (359.93 sq mi)
 • Land846.38 km2 (326.79 sq mi)
 • Water85.84 km2 (33.14 sq mi)  9.2%
Area rank119 in Norway
 *Area at municipal dissolution.
Population
 (2018)
 • Total2,522
 • Rank290 in Norway
 • Density3.0/km2 (8/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
-4.9%
Demonym(s)Ballangsværing not found in citation[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1854
Official language formBokmål[2]
Preceded byEvenes in 1925
Succeeded byNarvik in 2020
Websiteballangen.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

The municipality bordered Narvik Municipality to the east and Tysfjord Municipality to the south, and had a short border with Sweden to the southeast. Ballangen was situated on the southern shore of Ofotfjorden. Ballangen also included the long and narrow Efjorden, just south of the much larger Ofotfjorden. Its immediate surroundings were dominated by fjords, mountains, and forests. Ballangen relied on the nearby town of Narvik as its economic base.

Prior to its dissolution, the 932-square-kilometre (360 sq mi) municipality was the 119th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Ballangen was the 290th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,522. The municipality's population density was 3 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.8/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 4.9% over the previous decade.[3][4]

General information
Efjord in Ballangen July 2003. The bridge is part of the E6 road.

The municipality of Ballangen was established on 1 July 1925 when it was separated from the large Evenes Municipality. The new municipality encompassed all of Evenes located south of the Ofotfjorden. Initially, Ballangen had 3,270 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the southern part of Lødingen Municipality (the island of Barøya and the area surrounding the Efjorden; population: 433) was transferred from Lødingen to Ballangen.[5]

On 1 January 2020, the municipality was merged with the neighboring Narvik Municipality and the eastern half of Tysfjord Municipality to form a new, larger municipality of Narvik. This decision had been reached in 2017 after national and local discussions involving municipal mergers.[6]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 18 July 1980. The arms show a gold hammer on a green background. It was chosen as a symbol to represent the mining in the municipality. There used to be copper mines in the municipality. The green background symbolizes agriculture.[7]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Bagangr. The meaning of the first element is not known and the last element is angr, which means "fjord".[8][9][10]

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Ballangen. It was part of the Ofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Ballangen
Parish (sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
BallangenBallangen ChurchBallangen1923
Efjord ChapelKobbvika1985
Kjeldebotn ChurchKjeldebotn1956

History

The first person living in Ballangen was Lodve Lange (Lodve the long), who is mentioned in Heimskringla as being one of King Olav Tryggvason's most trusted warriors, and being placed near the king in the famous ship Ormen Lange (long serpent).[11] Lodve probably participated in the Battle of Svolder in the year 1000, and might have been killed there. He lived at Saltvik, which is near the fjord, east of today's village of Ballangen.[11]

There is a long history of mining in Ballangen, starting from the 17th century. Over the years as many as 36 mines have been operated in Ballangen, including minerals like copper, nickel and iron, zinc, manganese, and lead, but the most serious mining started in 1911 with Bjørkåsen Gruver mining mostly pyrite. Mining for nickel and olivine continued until 2002. There is also a dolomite quarry in Ballangen. Ballangen is the main agricultural municipality in the Ofoten region.[10] The Ballangen Museum is located in the village of Bjørkåsen in the municipality and presents the local mining history.[12]

Ballangen has the dubious distinction of having Norway's highest rate of sick leave from work,[13] probably due to the high number of people who worked in the mines there, and related environmental effects.[14]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Ballangen, 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.[15] The municipality falls under the Ofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Ballangen was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Ballangen Kommunestyre 2016–2019 [16]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)5
 Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)2
 Conservative Party (Høyre)2
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)1
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)7
Total number of members:17
Ballangen Kommunestyre 2012–2015 [17]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)4
 Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)2
 Conservative Party (Høyre)6
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)1
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
Total number of members:17
Ballangen Kommunestyre 2008–2011 [17]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)4
 Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)4
 Conservative Party (Høyre)3
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
Total number of members:17
Ballangen Kommunestyre 2004–2007 [17]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)4
 Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)3
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)7
 Joint list of the Conservative Party (Høyre)
and Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)		3
Total number of members:17
Ballangen Kommunestyre 2000–2003 [17]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)6
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
 Joint list of the Conservative Party (Høyre),
Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti),
and Liberal Party (Venstre)		7
Total number of members:17
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1996–1999 [18]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)9
 Conservative Party (Høyre)6
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)5
 Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)1
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1992–1995 [19]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)8
 Conservative Party (Høyre)5
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)6
 Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)2
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1988–1991 [20]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)12
 Conservative Party (Høyre)4
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)3
 Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)2
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1984–1987 [21]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)11
 Conservative Party (Høyre)2
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)8
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1980–1983 [22]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)11
 Conservative Party (Høyre)4
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)3
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
 Liberal Party and Free Voters (Venstre og Frie velgere)1
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1976–1979 [23]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)13
 Conservative Party (Høyre)3
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
 Non-socialist common list (Ikkesosialistisk fellesliste)3
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1972–1975 [24]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)13
 Conservative Party (Høyre)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)6
 Socialist People's Party (Sosialistisk Folkeparti)1
 Liberal Party (Venstre)1
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1968–1971 [25]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)13
 Conservative Party (Høyre)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
 Liberal Party (Venstre)3
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)1
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Kommunestyre 1964–1967 [26]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)13
 Conservative Party (Høyre)2
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)4
 Liberal Party (Venstre)3
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)1
Total number of members:23
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1960–1963 [27]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)10
 Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)1
 Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)10
Total number of members:21
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1956–1959 [28]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)9
 Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)2
 Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)5
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)5
Total number of members:21
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1952–1955 [29]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)7
 Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)3
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)11
Total number of members:21
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1948–1951 [30]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)8
 Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)4
 Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)9
Total number of members:21
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1945–1947 [31]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)8
 Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)3
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)10
Total number of members:21
Ballangen Herredsstyre 1938–1941* [32]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)8
 Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)7
 Local List(s) (Lokale lister)1
Total number of members:16

Geography
View of the Frostisen glacier

The village of Ballangen lies along the southern shore of the Ofotfjorden along the European route E6 highway. The highway crosses the Efjord Bridges on its way to Ballangen and then on again to the town of Narvik.

The Efjorden area is dominated by large slopes of bare rock with a narrow green area of vegetation near the fjord. The obelisk-like mountain, Stetind, nearby is dominated by the same, dark blue-grey rock, which contrasts with the clear water in the fjord where the sand banks can be seen just below the surface. Climbers and hikers are often tempted to test their skills on the rocky slopes. The large Frostisen glacier is located in the southeastern part of the municipality.

In the east, Ballangen borders on lake Siiddašjávri which it shares with Sweden. Siiddašjávri is the 14th largest lake which lies in or partially in Norway. Other lakes in the municipality include Børsvatnet, Geitvatnet, Hjertvatnet, Kjelvatnet, Langvatnet, Melkevatnet, Røvatnet, Søre Bukkevatnet, and Storvatnet.

The island of Barøya sits near the entrances to the Efjorden from the Ofotfjorden. The Barøy Lighthouse sits on the northern edge of the island.

Notable residents

Sister cities

See also

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2018). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  5. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2004.
  6. Karlsen, Tone Anita (22 August 2017). "Ny Narvik tar form". Harstad Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  7. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  8. Unger, Carl Rikard (1896). Sproglig-historiske studier (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: H. Aschehoug & Co. p. 77. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  9. Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 293.
  10. Store norske leksikon. "Ballangen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  11. "Lodve Lange". Fylkesleksikon. Nordland fylkeskommune. 15 December 2010. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017.
  12. "Ballangen Museum". Museum Nord. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  13. Taylor, Gerald (13 August 2017). "Ballangen, in Ofoten, enjoys dubious distinction of having Norway's highest absence from work due to sickness". Norway Today. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017.
  14. Kelion, Leo (15 August 2017). "Record-sized data centre planned inside Arctic Circle". BBC News.
  15. Hansen, Tore, ed. (12 May 2016). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  16. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
  17. "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  18. "Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  19. "Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  20. "Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  21. "Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  22. "Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  23. "Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  24. "Kommunevalgene 1972" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  25. "Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  26. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  27. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  28. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  29. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  30. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  31. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  32. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
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