Jump to content

Torsken Municipality

From Niidae Wiki

Template:Short description Template:Infobox kommune

Torsken (Template:Langx) is a former municipality that was located on the western coast of the large island of Senja in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new Senja Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Gryllefjord. Other larger villages in Torsken Municipality included the villages of Torsken, Medby, and Flakstadvåg.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the Template:Convert municipality was the 310th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Torsken was also the 403rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 931. The municipality's population density was Template:Convert and its population has increased by 1.6% over the previous decade.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

The historic Torsken Church in the village of Torsken dates back to the 18th century. Ånderdalen National Park was partially located inside the old borders of both Torsken Municipality and neighboring Tranøy Municipality.

General information

[edit]

Torsken Municipality was established on 1 January 1902 when it was separated from Berg. The initial population of Torsken was 1,229. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Rødsand area of Torsken (population: 160) was transferred to the neighboring Tranøy Municipality.<ref name="Dag">Template:Cite book</ref>

In March 2017, the Parliament of Norway voted to merge Berg Municipality, Torsken Municipality, Lenvik Municipality, and Tranøy Municipality. The new municipality would encompass the whole island of Senja plus part of the mainland located between the Gisundet strait and the Malangen fjord. On 1 January 2020, Torsken Municipality ceased to exist when it became part of the new Senja Municipality.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Name

[edit]

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torsken farm (Template:Langx) since the first Torsken Church was built there. The farm (and municipal) name were taken from the nearby mountain, Torsken. The name comes from the word Template:Wikt-lang which means "cod". (Several mountains in Norway are named after their likeness with a fish.)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Coat of arms

[edit]

The coat of arms was granted on 23 March 1990. The official blazon is "Sable, a cross moline Or" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a black field (background) and the charge is a cross moline (Template:Langx; Template:Lit). The cross moline has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The cross is a symbol for both Christianity and the importance of the local harbor. The economy of Torsken is largely dependent on its harbors and an anchor cross is an appropriate symbol. The arms were designed by Ivar Enoksen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Churches

[edit]

The Church of Norway had one parish (Template:Lang) within Torsken Municipality. It was part of the Senja prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Churches in Torsken
Parish (Template:Lang) Church name Location of the church Year built
Torsken Torsken Church Torsken 1784
Flakkstadvåg Chapel Flakstadvåg 1925
Gryllefjord Chapel Gryllefjord 1902
Medby Chapel Medby 1890

Economy

[edit]
File:Gryllefjord-From-Ballesvikskaret.jpg
View of Gryllefjord village

Most of the inhabitants of the municipality lived in the fishing village of Gryllefjord in the northern part of the municipality. The second most important village was Torsken, only a few kilometers to the south. Kaldfarnes/Medby, Grunnfarnes, and Flakstadvåg were other fishing villages further south. The municipality was close to the resources of the major fishing grounds off the Vesterålen archipelago, and 2004 landed 9.8 million tons of fish with a value of Template:NOK for fish-processing in Torsken, Gryllefjord, Kaldfarnes, and Grunnfarnes. Most people worked in the fishing or fish processing industries.

The municipality had few productive forests, but there were some spruce trees planted in sheltered areas. In the southern parts of Torsken there was some usable farmland. There were five farms with more than Template:Convert of agricultural land in the entire municipality (as of 1999).<ref name="snl">Template:Cite web</ref>

Transportation

[edit]
File:Gryllefjord-Gryllefjorden.jpg
View of the Gryllefjord

The Andenes–Gryllefjord Ferry went across the Andfjorden to the village of Andenes on the island of Andøya. The ferry was operated during about two months each summer. The road from the northern part of the municipality to Kaldfarnes, Grunnfarnes, and Flakstadvåg was far from direct. One had to drive north and then east into the neighboring Berg Municipality and then south into Tranøy Municipality before turning northwest and returning to Torsken Municipality. These were the only road connections from the rest of Norway into Torsken.

Government

[edit]

While it existed, Torsken Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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.<ref name="ks">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The municipality fell under the Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

[edit]

The municipal council Template:Lang of Torsken was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party. Template:Div col Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Div col end

Mayors

[edit]

The mayor (Template:Langx) of Torsken was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Geography

[edit]

Torsken was a rugged area along the west coast of the island of Senja. Many different fjords cut into its mountainous coastline including Sifjorden, Selfjorden, Torskefjorden, Gryllefjorden, and Skipsfjorden. Between mountain peaks that ranged from Template:Convert, there were deep valleys and narrow depressions. The highest point in the municipality was the Template:Convert tall mountain Kvænan.<ref name="elev" /> Many of the valleys contained marshes or lakes. The bedrock under Torsken consisted mostly of gneiss and granite.<ref name="snl" />

Climate

[edit]

Template:Weather box

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Template:Reflist

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Sister bar Template:Troms Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.niidae.com/index.php?title=Torsken_Municipality&oldid=133469"