Borge is a former municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1963. It was located on the northern part of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality was the village of Bøstad where Borge Church is located. Other villages in the municipality included Borg,

Knutstad Knutstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost port ...

, and

Tangstad Tangstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern side of the island of Vestvågøya, about west of the village of Bøstad and about north of the town of Leknes is a to ...

. Prior to its dissolution in 1963, the municipality was the 379th largest by area out of the 705 municipalities in Norway. Borge Municipality was the 208th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 4,082. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 10.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The prestegjeld of Borge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). In 1927, the southern district of Borge (population: 625) acrimoniously split off to form the new Valberg Municipality. This left Borge Municipality with 4,093 inhabitants. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Borge Municipality (population: 4,056) was merged with the neighboring

Buksnes Municipality Buksnes is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It comprised the western part of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administr ...

(population: 4,416),

Hol Municipality Hol is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. Administrative history The area of Hol was separated from the municipality Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants moved to Hol munici ...

(population: 3,154), and Valberg Municipality (population: 662) to create the new Vestvågøy Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Borge'' farm ( non, Borgar) since the first Borge Church was built there. The name is the plural form of '' borg'' which means "castle" or "hill/plateau suitable for a castle".

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had one parish () within Borge Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Borge prestegjeld and the Lofoten prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography

The municipality was located on the northern part of the large island of Vestvågøya. Valberg Municipality was located to the southeast and

was located to the southwest. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Himmeltindan, which was located on the border with neighboring

Government

While it existed, Borge Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services, welfare and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, 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 was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor ( no, ordfører) of Borge was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position (incomplete list): *1871-1884: Jens Foslie *1888-1889: K. Nilsen *1898-1900: Hans D.W. Smith *1900-1904: Jens Riksheim *1904-1905: Anton Pettersen Sand *1919-1934: William P. Olsen *1934-1941: Johan Walle ( Ap) *1941-1942: Trygve Sand *1943-1944: Kristoffer Angelsen *1945-1951: Johan Walle ( Ap) *1951-1962: Birger Val ( H)

Municipal council

The municipal council of Borge was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

References

{{Authority control Vestvågøy Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1963 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 1963