Lavangen

This article is about the municipality in Troms, Norway. For the fjord, see Lavangen (fjord).
Lavangen kommune
Loabága suohkan
Municipality

Inner Lavangen

Coat of arms

Troms within
Norway

Lavangen within Troms
Coordinates: 68°39′28″N 17°35′1″E / 68.65778°N 17.58361°E / 68.65778; 17.58361Coordinates: 68°39′28″N 17°35′1″E / 68.65778°N 17.58361°E / 68.65778; 17.58361
Country Norway
County Troms
District Midt-Troms
Administrative centre Tennevoll
Government
  Mayor (2011) Erling Bratsberg (Sp)
Area
  Total 301.72 km2 (116.49 sq mi)
  Land 296.20 km2 (114.36 sq mi)
  Water 5.52 km2 (2.13 sq mi)
Area rank 276 in Norway
Population (2012)
  Total 1,016
  Rank 404 in Norway
  Density 3.4/km2 (9/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -3.2 %
Demonym(s) Lavangsværing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1920
Official language form Neutral
Website www.lavangen.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Lavangen (Northern Sami: Loabák) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tennevoll. Other villages in Lavangen include Fossbakken and Spansdalen (in the inland areas) and Kjeiprød, Røkenes, Låternes, Tennevoll, Hesjevika, Soløy, and Å (surrounding the fjord).

General information

Lavangen was established on 1 January 1907 when it was separated from the municipality of Ibestad. The initial population was 1,536. On 1 January 1964, Lavangen was merged into the neighboring municipality of Salangen. The merger was brief, however, because on 1 January 1977, the old Lavangen municipality (except for the Lavangsnes area) was made a separate municipality once again.[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the fjord (Old Norse: Laufangr). The first element is lauf which means "leaf" (here in the sense of 'birchwood') and the last element is angr which means "fjord".[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). The arms are a canting of the name (which means leaf) since it shows three gold-colored birch leaves on a red background. The three leaves represent how the municipality was settled by Norwegians, Samis, and Kvens.[4]

See also: the coat-of-arms of Birkenes and Bjerkreim

Churches

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

Churches in Lavangen
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
LavangenLavangen ChurchSoløy1891

Geography

The municipality encompasses the land around the Spansdalelva river valley and most of the area around the Lavangen fjord, south of the Astafjorden. The municipality borders Narvik (in Nordland county) to the south, Gratangen to the west, Salangen to the north, and Bardu to the east.

Climate

Climate data for Tennevoll
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) −3.2
(26.2)
−2.2
(28)
1.1
(34)
4.5
(40.1)
10.1
(50.2)
15.0
(59)
17.2
(63)
15.6
(60.1)
10.6
(51.1)
4.8
(40.6)
0.6
(33.1)
−1.2
(29.8)
6.1
(43)
Daily mean °C (°F) −6.7
(19.9)
−5.8
(21.6)
−2.9
(26.8)
1.2
(34.2)
6.6
(43.9)
10.9
(51.6)
13.3
(55.9)
12.0
(53.6)
7.1
(44.8)
2.4
(36.3)
−2.4
(27.7)
−5.0
(23)
2.6
(36.7)
Average low °C (°F) −11.5
(11.3)
−10.2
(13.6)
−7.4
(18.7)
−3.4
(25.9)
1.4
(34.5)
6.4
(43.5)
8.9
(48)
7.5
(45.5)
3.0
(37.4)
−1.7
(28.9)
−6.4
(20.5)
−8.9
(16)
−1.9
(28.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 80
(3.15)
81
(3.19)
60
(2.36)
53
(2.09)
38
(1.5)
59
(2.32)
69
(2.72)
76
(2.99)
92
(3.62)
113
(4.45)
88
(3.46)
91
(3.58)
910
(35.83)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) 11.2 11.8 10.1 9.3 8.5 10.9 12.8 14.8 14.6 14.7 12.0 12.0 142.7
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[5]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Lavangen, 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 Lavangen is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[6]

Lavangen Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet5
 Progress PartyFremskrittspartiet1
 Conservative PartyHøyre3
 Centre PartySenterpartiet6
Total number of members:15

Attractions

Spanstind rundt is a famous cross-country skiing race in Lavangen that is held on Maundy Thursdays each year.

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1911). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (in Norwegian) (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 36.
  4. Store norske leksikon. "Lavangen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  5. "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
  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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