Flakstad is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of the island group Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ramberg. Other villages in the municipality include Fredvang, Napp, Nusfjord, Sund, and Vareid.

center|thumb|290x290px|Ramberg

The municipality is located in the Lofoten Islands and comprises the entire island of Flakstadøya and the northern part of the island of Moskenesøya, plus many smaller islets surrounding the main islands. The European route E10 highway runs across the whole municipality.

The municipality is the 312th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Flakstad Municipality is the 318th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,229. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 10.2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

thumb|left|Flakstad church

thumb|left|Skagsanden beach, Flakstad

thumb|left|Nusfjord is a small harbor with traditional rorbus.

The municipality of Flakstad was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 July 1916, the southern part of the municipality (population: 1,306) was separated to form the new Moskenes Municipality. This left Flakstad with 1,667 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Flakstad Municipality (population: 2,067) was merged into the neighboring Moskenes Municipality (population: 2,001), creating a new, larger Moskenes Municipality. This merger, however, only lasted for twelve years. On 1 January 1976, the merger was undone with Moskenes Municipality (population: 1,705) and Flakstad Municipality (population: 2,007) becoming separate municipalities once again.

Name

thumb|290x290px|Flakstad|left

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Flakstad farm ( or ) since the first Flakstad Church was built there. The first element of the name is uncertain. It may come from the word which may have meant "reckless". Another option is that it derived from the word which meant "rock wall", possibly referring to the large cliff near the church site. The last element is the plural form of which means "homestead", "abode", or "farm".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 14 July 1989. The official blazon is "Azure, a mooring bollard argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a mooring bollard which is a type of fixed device used for tying a hawser line from a boat to the dock. The mooring bollard has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea and the mooring bollard was chosen to represent the municipality's seafaring history. The arms were designed by Jorunn Thomassen and Jarle Henriksen.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within Flakstad Municipality. It is part of the Lofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Flakstad Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|-

|rowspan="1"|Flakstad||Flakstad Church||Flakstad||1780

|}

Economy

The municipality's economy is dominated by fishing. The fishing fleet mainly consists of small boats. There are also several fish farm in Flakstad. There is some agriculture in Flakstad, but mostly cattle and sheep farming rather than growing crops. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Salten og Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Flakstad Municipality is made up of 11 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Flakstad Municipality 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:

  • 1838–1869: Unknown
  • 1870–1872: Mr. Osten
  • 1873–1877: Arnt Arntsen
  • 1878–1880: Mikal Berg
  • 1881–1884: B. Lorentzen
  • 1885–1886: Rev. Anders Pedersen Grytnæs
  • 1887–1890: Rev.
  • 1891–1892: Bernhard Dahl
  • 1893–1894: Jakob Pedersen Næsland
  • 1895–1898: Peder Nilsen Aa
  • 1899–1904: Johannes Ludvig Johannessen
  • 1905–1907: Rev. Einar Johan Braëm Amlie
  • 1908–1914: A. Hammerø
  • 1914–1919: Tollef Johan Rasmussen
  • 1920–1922: Rev. Sverre Widsten
  • 1922–1924: Kristian Gjertsen
  • 1924–1926: Johan Ludvig Johansen
  • 1926–1929: Martin Knudsen
  • 1929–1938: K. Rørtveit
  • 1938–1941: Johan Kvalheim
  • 1941–1945: K. Rørtveit
  • 1945–1945: Johan Kvalheim
  • 1945–1946: Olav Jensen
  • 1946–1959: Øystein Krogtoft (Ap)
  • 1959–1963: Asbjørn Aune (Ap)
  • (1964–1975: Part of Moskenes Municipality)
  • 1975–1983: Gunnar Rørtveit (LL/Ap)
  • 1983–1986: Carl Leon Johnsen (LL)
  • 1986–1987: Alf Ivar Samuelsen (Ap)
  • 1987–1991: Jan Rigan (Ap)
  • 1991–1999: Willy Arntzen (LL)
  • 1999–2003: Erling Sigurd Sandnes (LL)
  • 2003–2005: Alf Ivar Samuelsen (Ap)
  • 2005–2007: Ann-Helen Fjeldstad Jusnes (Ap)
  • 2007–2015: Stein Iversen (Sp)
  • 2015–2019: Hans Fredrik Sørdal (Ap)
  • 2019–2023: Trond Kroken (Sp)
  • 2023–present: Einar Benjaminsen (LL)

Geography

Located near the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago, Flakstad comprises all of the island of Flakstadøya and the northern part of the island of Moskenesøya. The islands are connected by the Fredvang Bridges and the Kåkern Bridge. The large lake Solbjørnvatnet lies on the northern part of Moskenesøya in Flakstad. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Stjerntinden.

Notable people

  • Fredrik Arentz Krog (1844 in Flakstad – 1923), a Norwegian barrister
  • Gina Krog (1847 in Flakstad – 1916), a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, and editor
  • Birger Eriksen (1875 in Flakstad – 1958), a Norwegian officer and commander of Oscarsborg Fortress in WWII
  • Sigurd Lund Hamran (1902 in Flakstad – 1977), a Norwegian politician, Mayor, and deputy Mayor of Moskenes Municipality between 1937 & 1961
  • Alf Ivar Samuelsen (1942 in Flakstad – 2014), a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Flakstad Municipality

References

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway