Kvalsund
| Kvalsund kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 70°29′56.3″N 23°58′26.2″E / 70.498972°N 23.973944°ECoordinates: 70°29′56.3″N 23°58′26.2″E / 70.498972°N 23.973944°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Finnmark | ||
| Administrative centre | Kvalsund | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Tor Arvid Myrseth (Kvalsund Social Democrats) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,844 km2 (712 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 1,739 km2 (671 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 37 in Norway | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 1,093 | ||
| • Rank | 399 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 1/km2 (3/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -14.7 % | ||
| Demonym | Kvalsundværing[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-2017 | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Website | www.kvalsund.kommune.no | ||
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Kvalsund (Northern Sami: Fálesnuorri and Kven: Valasnuora) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kvalsund. Kvalsund was separated from the municipality of Sørøysund on 1 July 1869.
The Kvalsund Bridge (Kvalsundbrua) is a suspension bridge that crosses Kvalsundet from the mainland to the island of Kvaløya.
Since 2007, the mayor of Kvalsund is Tor Arvid Myrseth, who represents the Kvalsund Social Democrats.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Hvalsund. The first element is hvalr which means "whale" and the last element is sund which means "strait" or "sound". The Sámi name also translates to Whale (fáles) Strait (nuorri).
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 27 March 1987. The arms show three silver-colored salmon arranged in a pall on a blue background. The salmon represents fishing in various forms: as a traditional way of living and source of income, as modern fish farming, and as a recreational activity.[2][3]
(See also coat-of-arms for Grane, Mandal, Nordreisa.)
[edit] Settlements
The main village is also called Kvalsund, but was earlier called Finnbyen - a name meaning simply "Coast Sámi settlement". The Sámi name is Ráhkkerávju, which is untranslatable. Other villages in the municipality include Skáidi ("rivers' meeting-place" in Sámi), Stállugárgu ("troll beach", commonly written Stallogargo in Norwegian), Næverfjord - the Sámi name of which is Návvuotna - and Kokelv (Sámi: Guoikejohka). Regarding the latter toponyms, the Næverfjord translates to "tinder fiord" and Návvuotna to "cowshed fiord"; while Kokelv is "boiling river" in Norwegian and Guiokejohka means "rushing river" in Sámi.
Lakes in the region include Bjørnstadvatnet.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Aboriginal culture
Until a few hundred years ago, Coast Sámi culture was completely dominant in Kvalsund. Norwegian and Kven immigration soon made the area multicultural. During Norwegianization much of the traditional culture was lost. Kokelv is the village that has most successfully preserved elements of Sámi culture, and today has a Coast Sámi museum. The gakti of the Kvalsund region is easily recognizable by dots and jags on the collars (for men) and sleeves (for women).
[edit] Fægstock
The municipality hosts an annual rock festival known as Fægstock, which takes place in Fægfjord (Sámi: Veaigesvuotna, "twilight fiord").
[edit] Nature
[edit] Birdlife
The municipality of Kvalsund has several localities that have a rich and varied bird fauna. One of these is Repparfjordbotn with its large colony of Arctic Terns and its autumn numbers of Goosander.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/k/kvalsund.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ "Kommunevåpen". Flags of the World. 28 June 2002. http://fotw.us/flags/no-20-17.html. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
[edit] External links
Media related to Kvalsund at Wikimedia Commons
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