Brønnøy Municipality

Template:Short description Template:Infobox kommune

Brønnøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre and commercial centre of the municipality is the town of Brønnøysund. A secondary centre is the village of Hommelstø. Other villages include Tosbotnet, Lande, Trælnes, and Skomo.

File:TorghattenFraSør.jpg

Torghatten seen from the south

File:Bjornholmene.jpg

Bjørnholmene

The Template:Convert municipality is the 107th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Brønnøy is the 135th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,826. The municipality's population density is Template:Convert and its population has decreased by 0.9% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Brønnøysund Register Centre is an important employer in Brønnøy. Also, one of the largest limestone mines in Northern Europe is located in the municipality. Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy is located near the town of Brønnøysund.

General information

The municipality of Brønnøy was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 October 1875 the eastern district (population: 1,162) was separated to become the new Velfjord Municipality. This left Brønnøy with 4,156 residents.

Then on 1 January 1901, the southwestern district (population: 2,731) was separated to become the new Vik Municipality (which later changed its name to Sømna Municipality). Brønnøy Municipality was then left with 3,440 inhabitants. On 1 January 1923, the large village of Brønnøysund (population: 948) was separated from Brønnøy Municipality to become a town (ladested).

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place. The following areas were merged to form a new, larger Brønnøy Municipality.

the town of Brønnøysund (population: 2,064)
Sømna Municipality (population: 2,347)
Brønnøy Municipality (population: 2,635)
Velfjord Municipality (population: 1,380)
the part of Bindal Municipality located in the Lande-Tosbotn area around the inner Bindalsfjorden (population: 296)

Just thirteen years later on 1 January 1977, most of the former Sømna Municipality was separated from Brønnøy Municipality once again to become its own municipality. The Hongset area of the old Sømna Municipality remained in Brønnøy Municipality.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the small island of Brønnøya (Template:Langx), since the first Brønnøy Church was built there. The first element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "well" or "spring" and the last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "island". Islands with freshwater wells were important for seafarers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Brønnø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Brønnøy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 20 May 1988. The official blazon is "Or a balisage signal sable" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a field (background) that 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 charge is a navigational marker which is used to signal directions for navigation within a harbour. The charge represents the importance of boating and harbours in this seaside municipality. The arms were designed by Rolf Tidemann, a graphic artist from Brønnøysund.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (Template:Lang) within Brønnøy Municipality. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Brønnøy**
Parish (Template:Lang)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Brønnøy	Brønnøy Church	Brønnøysund	1870
	Skogmo Chapel	Skomo	1979
	Trælnes Chapel	Trælnes	1980
Velfjord og Tosen	Nøstvik Church	Hommelstø	1674
Velfjord og Tosen	Tosen Chapel	Lande	1734

File:Norway - Torget.png

Torget island. The larger, round island northwest of Torget is the main island of the Vega archipelago.

File:Strandflate Brønnøy.jpg

View from inside the hole of Torghatten; the Strandflaten coastal lowland

Geography

The municipality has great scenic variety with numerous islets, lakes (such as Eidvatnet, Sausvatnet, and Fjellvatnet), mountains, and some fertile agricultural areas. Torget island is connected to the mainland via the Brønnøysund Bridge. The highest point in the municipality is the Template:Convert tall mountain Breivasstinden, on the border with Grane Municipality.<ref name="elev" />

Brønnøy is located along the Norwegian coast. Vega Municipality and Vevelstad Municipality are to the north, Vefsn Municipality and Grane Municipality are to the east, and Bindal Municipality and Sømna Municipality are to the south. The large fjord Velfjorden runs into the heart of the municipality.

Nature

In the southwest is the island of Torget, with the mountain Torghatten, is famous for a cavity that goes straight through the structure. Lomsdal–Visten National Park is located in the northeastern part of Brønnøy Municipality.

The world's most northerly naturally occurring small-leaved lime (linden) forests grows in Brønnøy Municipality, and there are patches of boreal rainforests in Grønlidalen nature reserve<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Storhaugen nature reserve.<ref>http://nordland.miljostatus.no/Storhaugen Nature Reserve Template:Webarchive</ref> Strompdalen nature reserve<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Horsvær nature reserve, a nesting place for a rich variety of seabirds, are also located in the municipality.

Climate

Brønnøy has a temperate oceanic climate with mild winters with all monthly mean temperatures above freezing (Koppen Cfb). The growing season is also long for the latitude. There is a lot of precipitation, with significant precipitation in all months. Autumn and early winter is the wettest season and October the wettest month. The driest season is spring and early summer with May as the driest month. There have been weather stations in Brønnøy since 1873. 9 of the 12 monthly all-time lows are from 1940 or older; 3 from before 1900. The all-time low Template:Convert was recorded in February 1966, and the all-time high Template:Convert was set on 27 July 2019. Inland areas of the municipality will have colder winters.

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Government

Brønnøy Municipality is 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 is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

Mayors

The mayor (Template:Langx) of Brønnøy 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:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Div col

1838-1844: Ole Christian Andersen Nøstvig
1845-1848: Benjamin Jakobsen Opsjøn
1849-1852: Christian Holst
1853-1880: Sivert Andreas Nielsen (V)
1881-1882: Thomas Holst (H)
1883-1884: Andreas Olai Olsen (V)
1885-1886: Lorentz Larsen (V)
1887-1888: Bendik E. Jacobsen (V)
1889-1900: Christen Heide Nielsen (V)
1901-1904: Christen Abel Sellæg (H)
1905-1907: Tørris Hanssen Tilrem (V)
1908-1913: Wilhelm Magelssen Ottesen
1914-1916: Arnt Jakobsen Moe (V)
1917-1919: Wilhelm Magelssen Ottesen
1920-1922: Henrik Brækkan (H)
1923-1923: Johan J. Nordhus (LL)
1923–1925: Arnt Jakobsen Moe (LL)
1926–1928: Jørgen Kristian Skille (V)
1929–1941: Siegvart Melthor Nygaard (V)
1941–1945: Peder Strand (NS)
1945-1945: Siegvart Melthor Nygaard (V)
1946–1959: Martin Aakerøy (Ap)
1960–1963: Henrik G. Fagerland (V)
1964-1967: Gustav B. Skog (Ap)
1968-1975: Kristian Sandvik (Ap)
1975-1979: Bodil Aakre (H)
1980-1983: Kristian Sandvik (Ap)
1983-1995: Harald Solbakk (Ap)
1995-1999: Ragnvald Dundas (Sp)
1999-2013: Kjell Harald Trælnes (Sp)
2013-2019: Johnny Hanssen (Ap)
2019-2023: Eilif Trælnes (Sp)
2023–present: Siv Aglen (Ap)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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Notable people

File:Kristine Andersen Vesterfjell.jpg

Kristine Andersen Vesterfjell

File:HalleJH.JPG

Halle Jørn Hanssen, 2007

Hans Rosing (1625 at Brønnøy – 1699), a clergyman and Bishop of the Diocese of Oslo from 1664-1699
Skule Storheill (1907 in Brønnøysund – 1992), a prominent Norwegian naval officer
Kristine Andersen Vesterfjell (1910 in Lomsdalen – 1987), a South Sami reindeer herder and cultural advocate
Kåre Rodahl (1917 in Brønnøysund – 2008), a physician, physiologist, a research fellow in Arctic physiology and medicine and professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
Odd Grønmo (1922 in Brønnøy - 2012), a Norwegian politician who was Mayor of Bodin & Nordland
Ørjar Øyen (born 1927 in Brønnøy), a sociologist and academic
Dag Skogheim (1928–2015) a teacher, a poet, novelist, biographer, and non-fiction writer who grew up in Brønnøysund
Halle Jørn Hanssen (born 1937 in Brønnøy), a TV correspondent, development aid administrator, and politician
Rawdna Carita Eira (born 1970), a Norwegian and Sámi playwright, author, teacher, reindeer herder, and stage manager whoArtikkelserien «Fra Brønnøysunds saga» av tidligere ordfører Einar Olaussen (Høvding), publisert som føljetong i Brønnøysunds Avis i 1925 og 1926 grew up in Brønnøysund
Pål Arne Johansen (born 1977 in Brønnøy), a retired football midfielder and manager
Ulrik Saltnes (born 1992 in Brønnøysund), a footballer with almost 200 club caps

References

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External links

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