Sørfold Municipality

Template:Native name or Template:Native name<ref name="sami name" /> 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 Leirfjordgården, Mørsvikbotn, Røsvika, Rørstad, Styrkesvik, and Øvre Kvarv. The municipality surrounds the Sørfolda fjord and stretches east to the border with Sweden.

Kobbvatnet lake, Sørfold

Mørsvikbotn village and E6 road

View from the E6 highway

The Template:Convert municipality is the 48th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sørfold is the 290th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,858. The municipality's population density is Template:Convert and its population has decreased by 6.5% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

General information

The municipality of Sørfolden was established on 1 January 1887 when the old Folden Municipality was divided into two: Sørfolden Municipality (population: 1,946) and Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality (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 Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality to Sørfold Municipality.<ref name="Dag" />

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 Bodin Municipality. 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 Municipality to Bodø Municipality.<ref name="Dag">Template:Cite book</ref>

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Folda fjord (Template:Langx). The first element is the prefix Template:Wikt-lang which means "southern". The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which has an unknown meaning (maybe "the broad one"). The inner part of the fjord is divided into two arms Nordfolda ("the northern Folda") and Sørfolda ("the southern Folda").<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sørfolden. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sørfold.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

On 16 February 2024, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called Template:Lang when it is spelled alone, but it is Template:Lang when using the Sami language equivalent to "Sørfold Municipality".<ref name="sami name">Template:Cite web</ref>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, a turbine wheel argent" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a turbine wheel for a hydroelectric power plant. The turbine has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the turbine were chosen to symbolize the rivers around the municipality which contain many rapids and waterfalls. These are partly harnessed to generate electricity which has provided a major source of income for the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen from Vadsø.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (Template:Lang) within Sørfold Municipality. It is part of the Salten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Sørfold Municipality

Parish (Template:Lang)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Sørfold	Rørstad Church	Rørstad	1761
	Røsvik Church	Røsvika	1883
	Mørsvikbotn Chapel	Mørsvikbotn	1955

Geography

Trengsel Bridge on the E6 road

Sørfold Municipality is located about Template:Convert north of the Arctic Circle. The total land area of Sørfold is Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is covered with permanent ice and snow, and only Template:Convert lies below the Template:Convert contour line. The total length of coastline is Template:Convert. In 1987, only Template:Convert of land was being actively farmed. The highest point in the municipality is the Template:Convert tall mountain Skagmatoppen.<ref name="elev" />

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 Template:Convert above sea level, protects a largely undisturbed pine and birch forest (some logging before 1918) with many standing dead pine trees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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

Sørfold Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.<ref name="ks">Template:Cite SNL</ref> The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Salten og Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Template:Lang) of Sørfold Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party. Template:Div col Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Div col end

Mayors

Template:Incomplete list The mayor (Template:Langx) of Sørfold Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

• 1887–1887: Lars J. Wormdahl (H)
• 1893–1896: Nils Lie (V)
• 1897–1899: Hans A. Pedersen (LL)
• 1899–1901: Einar Amlie (LL)
• 1902–1907: Henrik Brækkan (H)
• 1908–1920: Petter Skog (LL)
• 1920–1927: Søren Øigaard (LL)
• 1927–1935: Søren L. Ørnes (Bp)
• 1935–1940: Johan Abelsen (Ap)
• 1941–1945: Olaf Hestvik (NS)
• 1945–1945: Johan Abelsen (Ap)
• 1946–1951: Magnus Lilleeng (Ap)
• 1952–1963: Hilmar Hammerfall (Ap)
• 1964–1971: Ottar Vollan (Ap)
• 1972–1975: Edvin Didriksen (Ap)
• 1976–1995: Frantz Pettersen (Ap)
• 1995–2003: Jakob Jakobsen (Sp)
• 2003–2019: Lars Evjenth (Ap)
• 2019–2023: Gisle Hansen (Sp)
• 2023–present: Kolbjørn Mathisen (Ap)

History

Husmannsplass Kjelvik

The small village of Mørsvikbotn is located in the north part of the municipality. About Template:Convert 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 Template:Convert 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 novelist and children's writer
• Oddmund Ingvald Jensen (1928 in Sørfold – 2011), a cross-country skier and coach who competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics
• Thor Helland (1936 in Sørfold – 2021), a 5000-metre runner who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway Template:In lang