Torsken
| Torsken kommune Northern Sami: Doaskku suohkan |
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 69°17′47″N 17°2′11″E / 69.29639°N 17.03639°ECoordinates: 69°17′47″N 17°2′11″E / 69.29639°N 17.03639°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Troms | ||
| District | Midt-Troms | ||
| Administrative centre | Gryllefjord | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Fred Flakstad (Gryllefjord bygdeliste) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 243.20 km2 (93.9 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 235.14 km2 (90.8 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 8.06 km2 (3.1 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 308 in Norway | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 899 | ||
| • Rank | 407-408 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 3.8/km2 (9.8/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -22.9 % | ||
| Demonym | Torskeværing[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1928 | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Website | www.torsken.kommune.no | ||
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Torsken is a municipality on the western coast of Senja island in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gryllefjord. The church of Torsken dates back to the 18th century. Ånderdalen National Park is located in Torsken and neighboring Tranøy.
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[edit] General information
The municipality of Torsken was established on 1 January 1902 when it was separated from the municipality of Berg. The initial population of Torsken was 1,229. On 1 January 1964, the Rødsand area of Torsken (population: 160) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Tranøy.[2]
[edit] Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torsken farm (Old Norse: Þoskar), since the first church was built there. The farm is named after Torsken mountain, and that name is probably derived from Norse þo(r)skr which means "cod". (Several mountains in Norway are named after their likeness with a fish.)[3]
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 23 March 1990. The arms show a gold-colored anchor cross (Norwegian: ankerkors) on a black background. It is a symbol for both Christianity and the importance of the local harbor. The economy of Torsken is largely dependent on its harbor and an anchor is an appropriate symbol.[4]
[edit] Economy
Most of the inhabitants live in the fishing village of Gryllefjord. The second most important village is Torsken, only a few kilometers away. Kaldfarnes and Grunnfarnes are two other fishing villages further south. Most people work in fishing or fish processing.
[edit] Transportation
The Andenes–Gryllefjord Ferry to Andøya is operated during about two months in the summer. The road to Kaldfarnes and Grunnfarnes is far from direct, and goes through the neighbouring municipality of Lenvik.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf.
- ^ Rygh, Oluf (1911) (in Norwegian). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 77. http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/navnegransking/rygh_ng/rygh_bla.prl?enhid=272612&avid=60387&s=n.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/t/torsken.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
[edit] External links
Media related to Torsken at Wikimedia Commons
The Wiktionary entry for torsken- Troms travel guide from Wikitravel
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
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