Ballangen Municipality

Template:Short description Template:Infobox kommune

Ballangen (Template:Langx) is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1925 until its dissolution in 2020 when it became part of Narvik Municipality. The Template:Convert municipality was part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Ballangen. Other villages in the municipality included Bjørkåsen, Kjeldebotn, Kobbvika, and Skarstad.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the Template:Convert municipality was the 119th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Ballangen was the 292nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,470. The municipality's population density was Template:Convert and its population had decreased by 5.8% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

The municipality bordered Narvik Municipality to the east and Tysfjord Municipality to the south, and had a short border with Sweden to the southeast. Ballangen was situated on the southern shore of Ofotfjorden. Ballangen also included the long and narrow Efjorden, just south of the much larger Ofotfjorden. Its immediate surroundings were dominated by fjords, mountains, and forests. Ballangen relied on the nearby town of Narvik as its economic base.

General information

File:Efjord1.jpg

Efjord in Ballangen July 2003. The bridge is part of the E6 road.

The municipality of Ballangen was established on 1 July 1925 when it was separated from the large Evenes Municipality. The new municipality encompassed all of the area of Evenes Municipality that was located south of the Ofotfjorden. Initially, Ballangen had 3,270 residents.<ref name="Dag" />

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the southern part of Lødingen Municipality (the island of Barøya and the area surrounding the Efjorden; population: 433) was transferred from Lødingen Municipality to Ballangen Municipality.<ref name="Dag">Template:Cite book</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the municipality was merged with the neighboring Narvik Municipality and the eastern half of Tysfjord Municipality to form a new, larger Narvik Municipality. This decision had been reached in 2017 after national and local discussions involving municipal mergers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 18 July 1980 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Vert, a hammer Or in pale" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is an upright hammer. The hammer 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 green color in the field symbolizes the importance of agriculture and the hammer was chosen to represent mining in the municipality. There used to be copper mines in the municipality. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Name

The municipality is named after the old Ballangen farm (Template:Langx) which is located at the head of a small fjord with the same name. The first element is Template:Lang which has an unknown meaning. The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "fjord".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="snl">Template:Cite web</ref>

Churches

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

**Churches in Ballangen**
Parish (Template:Lang)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Ballangen	Ballangen Church	Ballangen	1923
	Efjord Chapel	Kobbvika	1985
	Kjeldebotn Church	Kjeldebotn	1956

History

The first person living in Ballangen was Lodve Lange (Lodve the long), who is mentioned in Heimskringla as being one of King Olav Tryggvason's most trusted warriors, and being placed near the king in the famous ship Ormen Lange (long serpent).<ref name="Fylkesleksikon">Template:Cite web</ref> Lodve probably participated in the Battle of Svolder in the year 1000, and might have been killed there. He lived at Saltvik, which is near the fjord, east of today's village of Ballangen.<ref name="Fylkesleksikon" />

There is a long history of mining in Ballangen, starting from the 17th century. Over the years as many as 36 mines have been operated in Ballangen, including minerals like copper, nickel and iron, zinc, manganese, and lead, but the most serious mining started in 1911 with Bjørkåsen Gruver mining mostly pyrite. Mining for nickel and olivine continued until 2002. There is also a dolomite quarry in Ballangen. Ballangen is the main agricultural municipality in the Ofoten region.<ref name="snl" /> The Ballangen Museum is located in the village of Bjørkåsen in the municipality and presents the local mining history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ballangen has the dubious distinction of having Norway's highest rate of sick leave from work,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> probably due to the high number of people who worked in the mines there, and related environmental effects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Government

While it existed, Ballangen 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.<ref name="ks">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

Mayors

The mayor (Template:Langx) of Ballangen was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

1925-1929: John Magnus Østvik (Bp)
1930-1931: Lorentz Andreas Benjaminsen (Bp)
1932-1934: Gunnar Carlsen (V)
1935-1938: Nils Rognli Grande (Ap)
1939-1941: Harald Strømsnes (LL)
1941-1942: John Magnus Østvik (Bp)
1943-1945: Oskar Hole (NS)
1945-1946: Harald Strømsnes (LL)
1946-1947: Peder Andreas Eriksen (Ap)
1948-1951: Kador Johansen (Ap)
1952-1956: John Magnus Østvik (Bp)
1956-1961: Leif Rødseth (Ap)
1962-1963: Atle-Rolv Dahl (V)
1964-1967: Agnar Bjørkseth (Ap)
1967-1976: Ansgar Dahl (Ap)
1976-1979: Bjarne Jakobsen (Ap)
1979-1987: Kolbjørn Dahlin (Sp)
1987-1991: Knut Knutsen (Ap)
1991-1993: Asmund Dybvand (Sp)
1993-1999: Ivar Skoglund (H)
1999-1999: Per Kristian Arntzen (Sp)
1999-2003: Einar Gabrielsen (H)
2003-2007: Per Kristian Arntzen (Sp)
2007-2015: Anne-Rita Nicklasson (H)
2015-2020: Per Kristian Arntzen (Sp)

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Geography

File:Frostisen summits above Skjomen.JPG

View of the Frostisen glacier

The village of Ballangen lies along the southern shore of the Ofotfjorden along the European route E6 highway. The highway crosses the Efjord Bridges on its way to Ballangen and then on again to the town of Narvik.

The Efjorden area is dominated by large slopes of bare rock with a narrow green area of vegetation near the fjord. The obelisk-like mountain, Stetind, nearby is dominated by the same, dark blue-grey rock, which contrasts with the clear water in the fjord where the sand banks can be seen just below the surface. Climbers and hikers are often tempted to test their skills on the rocky slopes. The large Frostisen glacier is located in the southeastern part of the municipality. The highest point in the municipality was the Template:Convert tall mountain Frostisen.<ref name="elev" />

In the east, Ballangen bordered on lake Siiddašjávri which it shares with Sweden. Siiddašjávri is the 14th largest lake which lies in or partially in Norway. Other lakes in the municipality included Børsvatnet, Geitvatnet, Hjertvatnet, Kjelvatnet, Langvatnet, Melkevatnet, Røvatnet, Søre Bukkevatnet, and Storvatnet.

The island of Barøya sits near the entrances to the Efjorden from the Ofotfjorden. The Barøy Lighthouse sits on the northern edge of the island.

Notable people

Anni-Frid Lyngstad, a singer in the group ABBA who was born in Ballangen
Geir Bratland, a musicion in Apoptygma Berzerk, Dimmu Borgir, God Seed, The Kovenant, and Satyricon (band) was born and raised in Ballangen

Sister cities

Template:Flagicon Tosno, Leningrad Oblast, Russia

References

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External links

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