Editing Sortland Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Sortlandbluecollage.jpg|left|thumb|The "blue city" of Sortland.]]
The municipality of Sortland was established in 1841 when it was separated from the large [[Hadsel Municipality]].<ref name="dag" />

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1963, the Holm area (population: 65) along the [[Gavlfjorden]] was transferred from [[Langenes Municipality]] to Sortland Municipality. Also on that date, the area around the inner and western part of the [[Eidsfjorden (Nordland)|Eidsfjorden]] (population: 1,360) was transferred from [[Hadsel Municipality]] to Sortland Municipality.<ref name="dag">{{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 2000, the area surrounding the [[Godfjorden]] was transferred from [[Kvæfjord Municipality]] (and [[Troms]] county) to Sortland Municipality (and [[Nordland]] county).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-23 |title=Endringer i de regionale inndelingene |url=https://www.ssb.no/offentlig-sektor/kommunekatalog/endringer-i-de-regionale-inndelingene#Beskrivelse_av_alle_regionale_endringer_19992018 |access-date=2019-01-01 |publisher=Statistics Norway}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''Sortland'' farm ({{langx|non|Svortuland}}) since the first [[Sortland Church]] was built there. The first element is {{lang|non|Svort}} which is the [[genitive case]] of the local river name ''Svorta''. The river name is derived from {{wikt-lang|non|svartr}} which means "black" or "dark". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|land}} which means "land" or "[[farm]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |author-link=Oluf Rygh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K21BAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |year=1905 |edition=16 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=393 |language=no}}</ref>

On 2 May 2017, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official [[Sami language]] name for the municipality: {{lang|se|Suortá}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-02 |title=Fastsetting av samisk navn på Sortland kommune, Nordland |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTII/forskrift/2017-04-28-514 |access-date=2023-11-19 |publisher=LovData.no |language=no}}</ref> The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called {{lang|se|Suortá}} when it is spelled alone, but it is {{lang|se|Suorttá suohkan}} when using the Sami language equivalent to "Sortland municipality".<ref name="sami name">{{Cite web |title=Stadnamn og rettskriving |url=https://www.kartverket.no/til-lands/stadnamn/stadnamn-og-offisielle-sprak-i-noreg |access-date=2023-11-19 |publisher=[[Kartverket]] |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 15 March 1985. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], a [[castle]] with three towers without [[crenelation]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I blått en gull borg med tre tårn uten krenelering}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a castle with a gate and three towers without [[crenelation]]. The castle 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 blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of sea and the castle is an updated version of an old coat of arms for Sortland. The castle gate symbolizes Sortland as the gateway to the [[Vesterålen]] region and that it is the commercial centre of the region as well. The arms were designed by Kurt Myrland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Sortland |access-date=2023-02-04 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref name="FW">{{Cite web |title=Sortland, Nordland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-18-70.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1985-03-15 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1985-03-15-712 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

The old [[coat of arms]] was in use from the 1950s until 1985 when the new arms were granted. The arms showed a castle (very similar to the one in the current arms) in a stylized landscape, including waves and sun rays. The arms included a golden border with three black-white-black [[Pile (heraldry)|piles]] issuing from both flanks of the white castle. Also, there were four red sun rays issuing from behind the castle (four piles issuant from chief and flanks conjoined in heart), and in the base there were waves of red, black, and white. In the white [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]] inscribed the word "Sortland". A [[mural crown]] with four [[Embattled (heraldry)|embattlements]] was on the top.<ref name="FW" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nordnorsk musikkstevne på Sortland, juni 1952. Abel Ellingsen taler. |url=https://digitaltmuseum.no/021015524660/nordnorsk-musikkstevne-pa-sortland-juni-1952-abel-ellingsen-taler |access-date=2014-11-19 |publisher=DigitaltMuseum Nord}}</ref> 
<gallery>
Sortland Coat of Arms 1950-1985.png|Former coat of arms of Sortland (1950s-1985)
Sortland komm.svg|Current arms (since 1985)
</gallery>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Sortland Municipality. It is part of the [[Vesterålen prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Sortland'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Sortland||[[Indre Eidsfjord Church]]||[[Holmstad]]||1970
|-
|[[Sigerfjord Church]]||[[Sigerfjord]]||1933
|-
|[[Sortland Church]]||[[Sortland (town)|Sortland]]||1901
|}