Nordreisa Municipality

Template:Native name, Template:Native name (Northern Sami, Template:IPA), or Template:Native name<ref name="name">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storslett. Other villages include Oksfjordhamn, Sørkjosen, and Rotsund.

The municipality consists of the Reisadalen valley, with the river Reisaelva and deep pine forests, surrounded by mountains and high plateaus. Most people live in Storslett, where the river meets the Reisafjorden. Sørkjosen, just northwest of Storslett, is the location of Sørkjosen Airport with flights to Tromsø and several destinations in Finnmark. The European route E6 runs through the northern part of the municipality.

The Template:Convert municipality is the 9th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Nordreisa is the 187th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,794. The municipality's population density is Template:Convert and its population has decreased by 1.2% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

General information

The municipality of Nordreisa was established on 1 January 1886 when Skjervøy Municipality was divided in two. The southern part of Skjervøy (population: 1,057) was separated to form the new municipality. On 1 January 1890, the Trætten and Loppevolden farms (population: 32) were transferred to Nordreisa from Skjervøy. The parts of Skjervøy lying on the mainland (population: 1,556) were transferred from Skjervøy to Nordreisa on 1 January 1972. On 1 January 1982, the southern part of the island of Uløya (population: 128) was transferred from Skjervøy to Nordreisa.<ref>Template:Cite web</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 Troms county.<ref name="snl5">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Reisafjorden (Template:Langx). The fjord was named after the river Reisaelva which flows into the fjord. The river name is derived from the verb Template:Wikt-lang which means "to raise" (referring to flooding). The prefix Template:Wikt-lang (meaning "northern") was added to the name to distinguish the municipality from the nearby Sørreisa Municipality to the south.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Nordreisen. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nordreisa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2017, the municipality adopted co-equal, trilingual names for the municipality: Template:Native name, Template:Native name, and Template:Native name, and the government of Norway approved these in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The spelling of the Sami and Kven language names change depending on how they are used. In Sami, it is called Template:Lang when it is spelled alone, but it is Template:Lang when using the Sami language equivalent to "Nordreisa Municipality". In Kven, it is called Template:Lang when it is spelled alone, but it is Template:Lang when using the Kven language equivalent to "Nordreisa Municipality".Template:R<ref name="sami name">Template:Cite web</ref>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 21 December 1984. The official blazon is "Vert, two salmon haurient argent addorsed" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is two salmon. The salmon have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The salmon was chosen to be on the arms because the local Reisaelva river is one of Norway's best salmon fishing rivers. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:See also-text

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (Template:Lang) within Nordreisa Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Troms prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Churches in Nordreisa

Parish (Template:Lang)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Nordreisa	Nordreisa Church	Storslett	1856
	Rotsund Chapel	Rotsund	1932

History

Most inhabitants are descendants of settlers from Finland who came over in the 18th century, escaping famine and war. Today, only a few old people can speak Finnish. Some inhabitants have Sami or Norwegian backgrounds, and today the Norwegian language is most commonly used.

Few old buildings survive in Nordreisa, as virtually everything was destroyed in early 1945 by retreating German troops. The two major attractions are the old trading post at Havnnes, with picturesque old houses that escaped the war damages, and the waterfall of Mollisfossen, which is Template:Convert high. The upper, or southernmost, areas of the municipality are covered by the Reisa National Park with unique forest and high plateau vegetation.

Government

Nordreisa 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 Nord-Troms og Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

In the 2007 municipal elections, Nordreisa recorded the highest vote for the right-wing Progress Party in Norway at 49.3%.

Municipal council

The municipal council Template:Lang of Nordreisa is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and 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:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Div col end

Mayors

The mayors of Nordreisa:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Div col

• 1886–1890: Peder Borch Lund (V)
• 1891–1892: Ole Martin Gausdal (V)
• 1893–1895: Johan Olai Bakkeslett
• 1896–1898: Bertel Nilsen Sokkelvik
• 1899–1901: Johan Olai Bakkeslett
• 1902–1904: Bertel Nilsen Sokkelvik
• 1905–1907: Olaus Johnsen Snemyr
• 1908–1935: Leonhard Isachsen (Ap)
• 1935–1940: Lars Storslett (Ap)
• 1941–1942: Harald Lund Sørkjosen
• 1943–1945: Sigurd Gjetmundsen Skogstad
• 1945–1951: Håkon Henriksen (NKP)
• 1952–1955: Ove Myrland (Ap)
• 1956–1963: Arthur Elvestad (Ap)
• 1964–1969: Hjalmar Molund (Ap)
• 1970–1979: Arthur Elvestad (Ap)
• 1980–1991: Arne Pedersen (Ap)
• 1992–2003: Torbjørn Evanger (Ap)
• 2003–2011: John Karlsen (FrP)
• 2011–2015: Lidvart Jakobsen (Ap)
• 2015–2019: Øyvind Evanger (Ap)
• 2019–present: Hilde Anita Nyvoll (Ap)

Geography

File:Reisadalen lokking downstream.JPG

Reisa river, Reisadalen (valley)

Nordreisa Municipality is located around the Reisafjorden and the Reisadalen valley. The municipality also includes the southern part of the island of Uløya. The Lyngen fjord lies on the northwestern edge of the municipality. The islands of Skjervøy Municipality lie to the north; Kvænangen Municipality and Kautokeino Municipality are both located to the east; Finland is to the south; and Gáivuotna–Kåfjord Municipality and Lyngen Municipality are located to the west. The highest point in the municipality is the Template:Convert tall mountain Halti.,<ref name="elev" /> located in the southern part of the municipality, near Reisa National Park.

Climate

Nordreisa has a boreal climate, although with autumn as the wettest season. The wettest month, October, sees almost three times as much precipitation as the driest month, April. The all-time high Template:Convert was recorded August 2018. On 23. March 2025, Sørkjosen Airport set a new March all-time high for Troms county with Template:Convert. The weather station near the small airport has been recording since 1974. Template:Weather box

Notable people

File:Ian Haugland - Enrico Dal Boni cropped.jpg

Ian Haugland, 2011

• Anne Marie Blomstereng (born 1940 in Nordreisa), a Norwegian politician who was deputy mayor of Nordreisa from 1983 to 1995
• Ian Haugland (born 1964 in Storslett), the drummer in the Swedish rock band Europe
• Thomas Braaten (born 1987 in Nordreisa), a football defender with over 300 club caps
• Ruben Kristiansen (born 1988 in Nordreisa), a Norwegian international footballer with over 200 club caps
• Eirik Høgbakk, a professional football player
• Bjørn Arne Olsen, an actor in the movie Titanic<ref>Template:IMDb name. Retrieved 17 August 2020.</ref>

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway Template:In lang