Sørfold Municipality


or is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages in the municipality include Leirfjordgården, Mørsvikbotn, Røsvika, Rørstad, Styrkesvik, and Øvre Kvarv. The municipality surrounds the Sørfolda fjord and stretches east to the border with Sweden.
The municipality is the 48th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sørfold is the 290th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,858. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 6.5% over the previous 10-year period.
WWW sorfold.kommune.noFB Sørfold-kommune-100064451...YT sorfold-kommune

General information

The municipality of Sørfolden was established on 1 January 1887 when the old Folden Municipality was divided into two: Sørfolden Municipality and Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality. The spelling was later changed to just Sørfold. On 1 January 1894, the Movik farm along the Sagfjorden was transferred from Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality to Sørfold Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Øyjord area along the Nevelsfjorden was transferred to the neighboring Bodin Municipality. On the same date, the Mørsvikbotn area was transferred from Nordfold Municipality to Sørfold Municipality. On 1 January 1984, the Tårnvika and Øygården area along the Sørfolda fjord was transferred from Sørfold Municipality to Bodø Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the local Folda fjord. The first element is the prefix which means "southern". The last element is which has an unknown meaning. The inner part of the fjord is divided into two arms Nordfolda and Sørfolda. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sørfolden. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sørfold.
On 16 February 2024, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: Fuolldá. The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called Fuolldá when it is spelled alone, but it is Fuoldá suohkan when using the Sami language equivalent to "Sørfold Municipality".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, a turbine wheel argent". This means the arms have a blue field and the charge is a turbine wheel for a hydroelectric power plant. The turbine has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the turbine were chosen to symbolize the rivers around the municipality which contain many rapids and waterfalls. These are partly harnessed to generate electricity which has provided a major source of income for the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen from Vadsø.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within Sørfold Municipality. It is part of the Salten prosti in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
SørfoldRørstad ChurchRørstad1761
SørfoldRøsvik ChurchRøsvika1883
SørfoldMørsvikbotn ChapelMørsvikbotn1955

Geography

Sørfold Municipality is located about north of the Arctic Circle. The total land area of Sørfold is, of which is covered with permanent ice and snow, and only lies below the contour line. The total length of coastline is. In 1987, only of land was being actively farmed. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Skagmatoppen.
To the north of Sørfold is Hamarøy Municipality and to the south is Fauske Municipality. To the east, the Sørfold borders Jokkmokk Municipality in Sweden.
Rago National Park, with its wild nature dominated by bare rock, streams, and pine forest, is located in Sørfold. The glacier Blåmannsisen, one of the largest in Norway, is partly located in the municipality. There are several nature reserves. Veikdalen nature reserve, roughly above sea level, protects a largely undisturbed pine and birch forest with many standing dead pine trees.
There are many large lakes in Sørfold, including Andkjelvatnet, Faulvatnet, Forsvatnet, Grovatnet, Horndalsvatnet, Kobbvatnet, Kvitvatnet, Langvatnet, Leirvatnet, Litlverivatnet, Mørsvikvatnet, Nedre Veikvatnet, Røyrvatnet, Rundvatnet, Sildhopvatnet, Sisovatnet, Storskogvatnet, Straumvatnet, and Trollvatnet.

Government

Sørfold Municipality is responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Salten og Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Sørfold Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor of Sørfold Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
  • 1887–1887: Lars J. Wormdahl
  • 1893–1896: Nils Lie
  • 1897–1899: Hans A. Pedersen
  • 1899–1901: Einar Amlie
  • 1902–1907: Henrik Brækkan
  • 1908–1920: Petter Skog
  • 1920–1927: Søren Øigaard
  • 1927–1935: Søren L. Ørnes
  • 1935–1940: Johan Abelsen
  • 1941–1945: Olaf Hestvik
  • 1945–1945: Johan Abelsen
  • 1946–1951: Magnus Lilleeng
  • 1952–1963: Hilmar Hammerfall
  • 1964–1971: Ottar Vollan
  • 1972–1975: Edvin Didriksen
  • 1976–1995: Frantz Pettersen
  • 1995–2003: Jakob Jakobsen
  • 2003–2019: Lars Evjenth
  • 2019–2023: Gisle Hansen
  • 2023–present: Kolbjørn Mathisen

History

The small village of Mørsvikbotn is located in the north part of the municipality. About north of Mørsvikbotn lies the lake Mørsvikvatnet. In this area, Mørsry, the German army had a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II housing mostly Russian POWs. They were building the Polarbanen railway, which was intended to be a link between Fauske and Narvik. Some ruins of the camp, the foundations of the railway line, a tunnel, and roads can still be observed. A small, now empty, cemetery for fallen Russian soldiers is located close to the camp, about off the left-hand side just before the single concrete bridge.

Notable people