Ibestad

Ibestad ( sme, Ivvárstádik) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Central Hålogaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hamnvik. Some of the other larger villages in Ibestad include Engenes, Laupstad, Rollnes, Sørrollnes, Sørvika, and Å.

The municipality is the 292nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Ibestad is the 312th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,289 The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 8.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Ibestad was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Initially, Ibestad municipality covered a large area from the Vågsfjorden to the border with Sweden (the old Astafjord church parish). In 1854, the rural eastern half of the municipality (population: 757) was separated from Ibestad to form the new Bardu Municipality. This left Ibestad with 4,741 residents.

Then, on 1 January 1871, the northeastern part of the municipality (population: 1,384) was separated from Ibestad to form the new Salangen Municipality. This left Ibestad with 4,301 inhabitants. On 1 January 1907, the easternmost area of Ibestad (population: 1,536) became the separate Lavangen Municipality. Ibestad had 5,709 residents remaining after the split. In 1926, the municipality of Ibestad was divided into four separate municipalities: Andørja (population: 1,420) in the northeast, Gratangen (population: 1,967) in the southeast, Astafjord (population: 1,018) in the southwest, and (a much smaller) Ibestad (population: 1,768) in the northwest.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Ibestad (population: 1,821) was merged with the municipality of Andørja (population: 1,330) and the part of Skånland Municipality located on the island of Rolla (population: 143), creating a new Ibestad Municipality with a total of 3,294 residents.

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.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Ibestad'' farm ( Old Norse: ''Ívarsstaðir''), since the first Ibestad Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name ''Ívarr'' and the last element is ''staðir'' which means " homestead" or " farm". Prior to 1918, the name was spelled ''Ibbestad''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is modern and it was approved on 19 December 1986. The blue and white arms symbolize one of the oldest Norwegian stone churches. The church was built in Ibestad around the year 1200. As a symbol for this church, the arms show a cross on a medieval tombstone that was found at the church in 1960.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes () within the municipality of Ibestad. It is part of the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Geography

The municipality encompasses the islands of Andørja and Rolla and the tiny surrounding islets. The two main islands are connected by the undersea Ibestad Tunnel. The Mjøsund Bridge connects Andørja to Salangen Municipality on the mainland. There is a regular ferry connection from Sørrollnes on Rolla to the town of Harstad.

The Astafjorden forms the southeastern border of the municipality and the Vågsfjorden forms the western and northern borders. The small Mjøsundet strait forms the eastern border. The highest point in Ibestad is the tall Langlitinden mountain.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Ibestad, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Trondenes District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Ibestad is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Notable people

* Håkon Martin Breivoll (1886 in Ibestad – 1955) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Ibestad municipality from 1922 to 1940

References

External links

*
*
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
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{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022

Municipalities of Troms og Finnmark
Populated places of Arctic Norway
1838 establishments in Norway