Skjåk Municipality


Skjåk is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bismo. Most of the municipal residents live in the Billingsdalen and Ottadalen valleys along the river Otta. The local newspaper is named Fjuken.
The municipality is the 33rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Skjåk Municipality is the 273rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,179. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 5.4% over the previous 10-year period.
WWW Official Site𝕏 Skjaakkommune

General information

The municipality of Skjåk was established on 1 January 1866 when the large Lom Municipality was divided and the western part of the municipality became the new Skjåk Municipality. The eastern part of the municipality remained as Lom Municipality. The borders of the municipality have never changed.
Historically, the municipality was part of the old Oppland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Skjåk farm since the first Skjåk Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "a running track for horse racing". The last element is which means "field" or "acre". Prior to 1889, the name was written "Skiaker", then from 1889 to 1910 it was spelled "Skiaaker". On 4 June 1910, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Skjaak, to give the name a more Norwegian and less Danish spelling due to Norwegian language reforms. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the letter å was used instead.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 31 March 1989. The official blazon is "Azure, an acanthus quatrefoil argent". This means the arms have a blue field and the charge is four acanthus leaves connected in the centre. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to symbolize growth and strength. These symbols are found in many historic artifacts from around the area. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes within Skjåk Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti in the Diocese of Hamar.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
NordbergNordberg ChurchNordberg1864
SkjåkSkjåk ChurchBismo1752

Geography

Skjåk Municipality is the westernmost municipality in the Ottadalen valley. It is bordered to the north by Fjord Municipality, Rauma Municipality, and Lesja Municipality, in the east and southeast by Lom Municipality, in the south by Luster Municipality and in the west by Stryn Municipality and Stranda Municipality. The municipality lies along the Otta river between the mountainous areas of Breheim and Reinheim. Bismo is the modern population center and the location of the majority of industry and shopping as well as the municipal administration.
The community is at the meeting point between Gudbrandsdalen and the mountains between the eastern parts of Norway and the west coast. The municipality lies on a historically significant traffic artery between Stryn and Nordfjord, Geiranger, and Sunnmøre and the more easterly Ottadal municipalities of Lom and Vågå. The Breheimen National Park and Reinheimen National Park are both located in the municipality.
Of the total area, is used for agriculture; for forestry; is covered by water ; and the rest is mountains and other non-arable land. Virtually the entire long valley floor is continuously, but sparsely, built up. Skjåk serves as a point of entry to the mountain areas just west; hunting and fishing are also popular tourist activities. The municipality includes a number of large lakes including Aursjoen, Breiddalsvatnet, Grønvatnet, Langvatnet, Rauddalsvatn, and Tordsvatnet. The Breheimen mountains run through the municipality and the Holåbreen and Tystigbreen glaciers are located in those mountains. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Nørdre Hestbreapiggen.

Climate

The Ottadalen valley is heavily rain shadowed and one of the driest areas in Northern Europe with annual precipitation down to about per year. The weather station at Øygarden in the very east of Skjåk receives a mere 298 mm annually and ranks as the second-driest location at the Norwegian mainland. The climate here is subarctic, characterized by cold winters and mild summers.
In addition, one side of the valley, solsida, has a southern exposure, whereas baksida gets very little sun. Agriculture has been enabled by elaborate irrigation systems for hundreds of years, so the area is green and productive rather than desert-like.

History

Skjåk has historical roots back to the Viking Age and has a rich cultural heritage. An ancient route of travel between east and west went from Skjåk up through the Raudal valley and down through the Sunndal valley to Stryn Municipality on an arm of the Nordfjord. For example, in 1197, according to King Sverre's saga, Bishop Nikolaus is reported to have sent a group of baglers from Oppdal over the mountains to Stryn on Nordfjord, via Raudal.

Government

Skjåk 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 Gudbrandsdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Skjåk 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 Skjåk 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:
  • 1866–1875: Otto Ottesen
  • 1876–1877: Ola Lund
  • 1878–1881: Jon J. Kjeka
  • 1882–1883: Kristian A. Hjeltar
  • 1884–1885: Ola O. Hyrve
  • 1886–1889: Ola Lund
  • 1890–1891: Ola O. Skjåk
  • 1892–1893: Kristian A. Hjeltar
  • 1894–1897: Lars Ånstad
  • 1898–1901: Ola O. Skjåk
  • 1902–1904: Lars Ånstad
  • 1905–1907: Rasmus Haugen
  • 1908–1910: Ola O. Ånstad
  • 1911–1913: Erik Kvale
  • 1914–1916: Kolbein Skaare
  • 1917–1919: Johannes Kjeken
  • 1920–1922: Kolbein Skaare
  • 1923–1925: Olav Øygard
  • 1926–1928: Ola F. Gjeilo
  • 1929–1931: Olav Øygard
  • 1932–1934: Ola F. Gjeilo
  • 1935–1941: Ole O. Langleite
  • 1941–1945: Gudbrand Skjaak
  • 1945–1951: Ole O. Langleite
  • 1952–1955: Trygve Bakke
  • 1956–1959: Ole Langleite
  • 1960–1971: Trygve Bakke
  • 1972–1983: Hans Krogstad
  • 1984–1987: Åge Willy Rønningen
  • 1988–1995: Margit Grimstad Lien
  • 1996–2003: Hans Krogstad
  • 2003–2007: Ola Stensgård
  • 2007–2015: Rolv Kristen Øygard
  • 2015–2019: Elias Sperstad
  • 2019–present: Edel Kveen

Notable people