Lødingen
| Lødingen kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°ECoordinates: 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Nordland | ||
| District | Ofoten | ||
| Administrative centre | Lødingen | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Vibeke Tveit (Ap) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 524 km2 (202.3 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 505 km2 (195 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 202 in Norway | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 2,386 | ||
| • Rank | 312 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 5/km2 (12.9/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -11.8 % | ||
| Demonym | Lødingsværing[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1851 | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Website | www.lodingen.kommune.no | ||
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Lødingen is a village and municipality (Norwegian: kommune) in Nordland in Northern Norway. Lødingen is located on the southeastern corner of the island Hinnøya, and 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.
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[edit] General information
[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, 73 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 Arbeiderpartiet (Ap) joined together, the Arbeiderpartiet's Vibeke Tveit became the new mayor.
[edit] Attractions
- Eye in Stone (Øye i stein), part of Artscape Nordland (Skulpturlandskap Nordland)
- Norwegian Telecom Museum, telegraphy
- Pilotage Service Museum
[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/l/lodingen.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
[edit] External links
- Skulpturlandskap Nordland (Norwegian)
- Norwegian Telecom Museum (Norwegian)
- Lødingen data (Norwegian)
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