Editing Loppa Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Bergsfjord Loppa.jpg|thumb|left|View of the village of Bergsfjord]]
[[File:Oeksfjord kirke.JPG|thumb|left|View of [[Øksfjord Church]]]]
[[File:Fv882 road near Steinvikneset at Øksfjorden, 2012 June.jpg|thumb|left|View near Øksfjord]]
The municipality of ''Loppen'' (later spelled ''Loppa'') was established on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). In 1858, the northern part of Loppa on the island of [[Sørøya]] and most of Loppa on the island of [[Stjernøya]] (population: 506) was separated to form the new [[Hasvik Municipality]]. This left Loppa with 801 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed [[Troms og Finnmark]] county. Previously, it had been part of the old [[Finnmark]] county.<ref name="snl5">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Troms og Finnmark |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |publisher=[[Kunnskapsforlaget]] |url=https://snl.no/Troms_og_Finnmark |access-date=2019-12-26 |date=2019-12-24 |editor-last=Mæhlum |editor-first=Lars |language=no}}</ref> On 1 January 2024, the [[Troms og Finnmark]] county was divided and the municipality once again became part of [[Finnmark]] county.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-05 |title=Fylkesinndelingen fra 2024 |url=https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunestruktur/fylkesinndelingen-fra-2024/id2922222/ |publisher=Regjeringen.no |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the island of [[Loppa (island)|Loppa]] ({{langx|non|Loppa}}), since it was the former centre of the municipality and the first church ([[Loppa Church]]) was located there. The meaning of the name is uncertain, however it is mentioned to be of Norse origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bratrein |first=Håvard Dahl |title=Høvding, Jarl, Konge. Nord-Norges politiske historie i vikingtid, ei annerledes fortelling |publisher=Tromsø Museums Skrifter |year=2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qolBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt |date=1924 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=18 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=93–94 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref><ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Loppa |url=http://snl.no/Loppa |access-date=2013-01-09 |language=no}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Loppen''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Loppa''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 19 December 1980. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Or (heraldry)|Or]] a cormorant [[Attitude (heraldry)|wings elevated]] sable"'' ({{langx|no|I gult en svart skarv}}). This means the arms have a [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] that is a [[great cormorant|great black cormorant]] in [[sable (heraldry)|sable]]. The [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The cormorant was chosen as a symbol since the municipality has several typical [[fishing village]]s which often attract cormorants which are reputed to be good fish-catchers. The yellow color in the field symbolizes the riches from the local [[fishing industry]]. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Loppa |access-date=2023-01-22 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Loppa, Finmark |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-20-14.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1980-12-19 |title=Loppa kommune, våpen |url=https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/archives/5003-Kommunev%C3%A5pen/Kart%20og%20tegninger%20og%20segl/he10071208070148.tif.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5003-Kommunev%25C3%25A5pen%2F%3Fq%3Dloppa |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=digitalarkivet.no |publisher=Arkivverket |language=no}}</ref> {{See also-text|Coats of arms of [[Coat of arms of Røst|Rost]] and [[Coat of arms of Skjervøy|Skjervøy]]}}

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Loppa. It is part of the [[Alta prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland]]. In the medieval ages Loppa was its own parish, with traces after an old church in the fishing village of Yttervær, on the island Loppa.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Loppa'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="5"|Loppa||[[Bergsfjord Church]]||[[Bergsfjord]]||1951
|-
|[[Loppa Church]]||[[Loppa (island)|Loppa]]||1953
|-
|[[Nuvsvåg Chapel]]||[[Nuvsvåg]]||1961
|-
|[[Sandland Chapel]]||[[Sandland]]||1971
|-
|[[Øksfjord Church]]||[[Øksfjord]]||1954
|}