Lødingen

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Lødingen kommune
—  Municipality  —

Coat of arms

Nordland within
Norway
Lødingen within Nordland
Coordinates (city): 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°E / 68.40417; 15.57139Coordinates: 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°E / 68.40417; 15.57139
Country Norway
County Nordland
District Ofoten
Municipality ID NO-1851
Administrative centre Lødingen
Government
 - Mayor (2007) Vibeke Tveit (V)
Area (Nr. 202 in Norway)
 - Total 524 km2 (202.3 sq mi)
 - Land 505 km2 (195 sq mi)
Population (2004)
 - Total 2,386
 - Density 5/km2 (12.9/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) -11.8 %
 - Rank in Norway 312
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form Bokmål
Norwegian demonym Lødingsværing[1]
Website www.lodingen.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Lødingen is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Ofoten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lødingen.

Lødingen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Two other municipalities were later separated from it: Tysfjord (in 1869) and Tjeldsund (in 1909). The area of Efjorden was transferred to the municipality of Ballangen on 1 January 1962.

Contents

[edit] General information

View north into Tjeldsundet from just north of Lødingen village

[edit] Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lødingen farm (Old Norse: Lödueng), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of laða which means "grain/hay barn" and the last element is eng which means "meadow".

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 May 1984. The arms show a gold-colored woollen thread that is folded as a flower with five leaves on a red background. The municipality is at the junction of road, shipping, and ferry routes to five areas: Lofoten, Ofoten, Salten, Vesterålen, and Sør Troms. It is also located between five fjords: Vestfjord, Ofotfjord, Tysfjorden, Tjeldsundet, and Gullesfjorden. The symbol is also an ancient symbol for good fortune.[2]

[edit] Geography

The municipality encompasses the southern part of Hinnøya. The terrain is mountainous, with several small islands and fjords. The centre of the municipality is the village Lødingen, located at the inner part of Vestfjord at the southern entrance of Tjeldsundet. The nearest airport is Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes, 90 km away by road. Lødingen is an important ferry harbor, the car ferry to/from Bognes in Tysfjord leaves 12 times per day and takes 60 minutes.

[edit] Government

[edit] 2007 election

The 2007 local election was won by Fremskrittspartiet (FrP), but because Venstre (V), Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV), and Arbeidepartiet (Ap) joined together, the Arbeiderpartiet's Vibeke Tveit became the new mayor.

[edit] Attractions

[edit] References

[edit] External links