Steigen
| Steigen kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 67°47′54″N 15°10′19″E / 67.79833°N 15.17194°ECoordinates: 67°47′54″N 15°10′19″E / 67.79833°N 15.17194°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Nordland | ||
| District | Salten | ||
| Administrative centre | Leinesfjord | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Asle Schrøder (Sp) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,007 km2 (389 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 962 km2 (371 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 105 in Norway | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 2,863 | ||
| • Rank | 282 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 3/km2 (8/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -10.3 % | ||
| Demonym | Steigværing[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1848 | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Website | www.steigen.kommune.no | ||
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Steigen is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Leinesfjord.
Steigen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The new municipality of Leiranger was separated from Steigen on 1 September 1900. On 1 January 1964, Leiranger was again merged with Steigen along with the neighboring municipality of Nordfold.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Steigen farm (Old Norse: Steig), since the first church was built there. The name is derived from the verb stíga which means "mount" or "rise" and it is referring to the high and steep mountain Steigtinden (tinden means "the peak") behind the farm.
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 12 October 1988. The arms show three black-colored axe heads from the Viking Age.[2]
[edit] Geography
The municipality is located at the coast, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Bodø, well inside the Arctic Circle. The road to Steigen departs from European route E6 and makes use of the 8 kilometres (5 mi) long Steigentunnelen (see World's longest tunnels). Steigen borders Hamarøy municipality in the north and Sørfold municipality to the south. Vestfjord and Lofoten is located west of Steigen. The municipality is mainly located on a peninsula dissected by many fjords. Steigen also includes several islands. The largest island is Engeløya, where there are ancient burial mounds (such as Sigarshaugen) and the world's most northerly naturally occurring Hazel forest in Prestegårdsskogen nature reserve. The largest glacier is Helldalsisen encircling a 1,361 metres (4,465 ft) mountain. Lakes in the region include Forsanvatnet.
Steigen has fertile lowlands in between the mountains and the sea. There are several archeological sites showing settlements from the Bronze age, Iron age, and Viking age.
[edit] Climate
The monthly 24-hr averages range from −1 °C (30 °F) in January and February to 13 °C (55 °F) in July and August, with precipitation ranging from 49 millimetres (1.9 in) in May to 146 millimetres (5.7 in) in October; annual average is 970 millimetres (38.2 in) and mean annual temperature is 5.1 °C (41 °F) (source: Norges meteorologiske institutt, 1961-90 base period for Grøtøy, Steigen).
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ "Kommunevåpen". Steigen Kommune. http://www.steigen.kommune.no/kommunevaapen.111188.no.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29. (Norwegian)
[edit] External links
Media related to Steigen at Wikimedia Commons- Steigen Municipality (Norwegian)
- Treveven:Hassel (Norwegian)
- Iron age in Steigen
- Steigen settled for thousands of years
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