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General information

The municipality of Sørfolden was established on 1 January 1887 when the old Folden Municipality was divided into two: Sørfolden Municipality (population: 1,946) and Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality (population: 1,347). The spelling was later changed to just Sørfold. On 1 January 1894, the Movik farm (population: 30) along the Sagfjorden was transferred from Nordfolden-Kjerringø Municipality to Sørfold Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Folda fjord (). The first element is the prefix which means "southern". The last element is which has an unknown meaning (maybe "the broad one"). The inner part of the fjord is divided into two arms Nordfolda ("the northern Folda") and Sørfolda ("the southern Folda"). Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sørfolden. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sørfold.

On 16 February 2024, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: . The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called when it is spelled alone, but it is when using the Sami language equivalent to "Sørfold Municipality".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, a turbine wheel argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a turbine wheel for a hydroelectric power plant. The turbine 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 and the turbine were chosen to symbolize the rivers around the municipality which contain many rapids and waterfalls. These are partly harnessed to generate electricity which has provided a major source of income for the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen from Vadsø.

Churches

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

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

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

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

|-

|rowspan="3"|Sørfold||Rørstad Church||Rørstad||1761

|-

|Røsvik Church||Røsvika||1883

|-

|Mørsvikbotn Chapel||Mørsvikbotn||1955

|}

Geography

thumb|left|[[Trengsel Bridge on the E6 road]]

Sørfold Municipality is located about north of the Arctic Circle. The total land area of Sørfold is , of which is covered with permanent ice and snow, and only lies below the contour line. The total length of coastline is . In 1987, only of land was being actively farmed. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Skagmatoppen.

There are many large lakes in Sørfold, including Andkjelvatnet, Faulvatnet, Forsvatnet, Grovatnet, Horndalsvatnet, Kobbvatnet, Kvitvatnet, Langvatnet, Leirvatnet, Litlverivatnet, Mørsvikvatnet, Nedre Veikvatnet, Røyrvatnet, Rundvatnet, Sildhopvatnet, Sisovatnet, Storskogvatnet, Straumvatnet, and Trollvatnet.

Government

Sørfold 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. 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 Sørfold Municipality is made up of 17 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 Sørfold 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:

  • 1887–1888: Rev. Lars J. Wormdahl (H)
  • 1889–1892: Johannes Larsen Skarstrøm
  • 1893–1896: Nils Lie (V)
  • 1897–1899: Hans A. Pedersen (LL)
  • 1899–1901: Einar Amlie (LL)
  • 1902–1907: Henrik Brækkan (H)
  • 1908–1920: Petter Skog (LL)
  • 1920–1927: Søren Øigaard (LL)
  • 1927–1935: Søren L. Ørnes (Bp)
  • 1935–1940: Johan Abelsen (Ap)
  • 1941–1945: Olaf Hestvik (NS)
  • 1945–1945: Johan Abelsen (Ap)
  • 1946–1951: Magnus Lilleeng (Ap)
  • 1952–1963: Hilmar Hammerfall (Ap)
  • 1964–1971: Ottar Vollan (Ap)
  • 1972–1975: Edvin Didriksen (Ap)
  • 1976–1995: Frantz Pettersen (Ap)
  • 1995–2003: Jakob Jakobsen (Sp)
  • 2003–2019: Lars Evjenth (Ap)
  • 2019–2023: Gisle Hansen (Sp)
  • 2023–present: Kolbjørn Mathisen (Ap)

History

thumb|right|Husmannsplass Kjelvik

The small village of Mørsvikbotn is located in the north part of the municipality. About north of Mørsvikbotn lies the lake Mørsvikvatnet. In this area, Mørsry, the German army had a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II housing mostly Russian POWs. They were building the Polarbanen railway, which was intended to be a link between Fauske and Narvik. Some ruins of the camp, the foundations of the railway line, a tunnel, and roads can still be observed. A small, now empty, cemetery for fallen Russian soldiers is located close to the camp, about off the left-hand side just before the single concrete bridge.

Notable people

  • Alfred B. Skar (1896 in Sørfold – 1969), a newspaper editor, writer, trade unionist, and politician
  • Eivind Tverbak (1897 in Sørfold – 1982), a novelist and children's writer
  • Oddmund Ingvald Jensen (1928 in Sørfold – 2011), a cross-country skier and coach who competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics
  • Thor Helland (1936 in Sørfold – 2021), a 5000-metre runner who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics

References

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway