( Norwegian) or is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, Norway. It is part of the

Namdalen Namdalen () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Namsos Municipality, Namsos, Grong Municipality, Grong, Overhalla Municipality, Overhalla, Røyrvik Municipality, Røyr ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Some of the villages in the municipality include

Bangsund Bangsund is a village Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It lies along the Løgnin arm of the Namsenfjorden, about south of the town of Namsos. The villages of Klinga and Sævik lie to the northeast along the Norwegian County ...

, Klinga, Ramsvika,

Skomsvoll Skomsvoll is a village on the island of Otterøya in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the south side of the island, along the Namsenfjorden. The village of Statland lies across the fjord from Skomsvoll, with the ...

Spillum Spillum is a village in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the south side of the Namsen river about directly south of the centre of the town of Namsos and about north of the village of Klinga. The ...

Sævik Sævik is a small village in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village was the site of the old Sævik Church until the mid-1800s. The village is located about half-way between the villages of Klinga and Spillum, along the N ...

Dun Dun most commonly refers to: *Dun gene, which produces a brownish-gray color (dun) in horses and other Equidae * Dun (fortification), an ancient or medieval fort Dun or DUN may also refer to: Places Scotland * Dun, Angus, a civil parish in ...

, Salsnes, Nufsfjord,

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

Namdalseid Namdalseid may refer to: Places *Namdalseid (village), a village in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Namdalseid Church, a church in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Namdalseid Municipality Namdalseid is a form ...

Sjøåsen Sjøåsen is a village in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located at the mouth of the river Årgårdselva at the end of the Løgnin arm of the Namsenfjorden. It is located along the Norwegian County Road 17 County ...

Statland Statland is a village in the western part of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village lies along the Namsenfjorden, about north of the village of Tøttdalen. The village has a school and Statland Church Statland Church ...

, Tøttdalen, and

Sverkmoen Sverkmoen is a farming area in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is west of the village of Namdalseid, between the lake Øyungen and the river Sverka which flows through a flat landscape A landscape is the visible featur ...

. The municipality is the 30th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Namsos is the 82nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 15,083. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has decreased by 2.1% over the previous 10-year period. The town of Namsos has a swimming pool, Oasen, built inside a mountain.

General information

Name

The municipality is named after the town of Namsos which was established in 1846. The town was named after its location at the mouth of the river

Namsen or is one of the longest rivers in Trøndelag county, in the central part of Norway. The long river flows through the municipalities of Røyrvik, Namsskogan, Grong, Overhalla, and Namsos before emptying into the Namsenfjorden. The river is t ...

. The first element of the name is which comes from the name of the river

. The river name has an uncertain origin. The first part of the river name may come from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word ) which has an unknown meaning, but it may come from the word which means "boat". The second part of the river name () is derived from the word which means "sea". The last element of the name is which means the " mouth of a river". On 1 January 2020, the national government approved a merger of three municipalities: Fosnes, Namdalseid, and Namsos. Upon the merger, the new municipality would have two co-equal, official names: and . 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 "Namsos municipality".

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted to the town of Namsos on 5 May 1961. They were re-granted on 21 October 1966 when the town was merged with neighboring areas to create a new, larger Namsos Municipality. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, a moose head

couped The heads of humans and other animals are frequently occurring charges in heraldry. The blazon, or heraldic description, usually states whether an animal's head is couped (as if cut off cleanly at the neck), erased (as if forcibly ripped from th ...

Or"'' (). This means the arms have a red

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

head. The moose head has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The

was chosen as a symbol for the municipality, since Namsos is the capital of the forest-rich

region, and the moose is the "king of the forest". The arms were designed by

Hallvard Trætteberg Hallvard Trætteberg (21 April 1898 in Løten Municipality – 21 November 1987 in Oslo) was the leading Norwegian heraldic artist and the expert adviser on heraldry to the Government of Norway and the Norwegian royal family for much of the 2 ...

. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has seven parishes () within Namsos Municipality. It is part of the

Namdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Trøndelag county. The diocese is based at the Nidaros Cathedral in the city of Trondheim (city), T ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

History

The location by the river and the large

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s nearby made the location of the present day town of Namsos ideal for the construction of

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s. There were eleven mills in the town during their heyday, but only one remains: Moelven Van Severen. In addition, the

Norwegian Sawmill Museum The Norwegian Sawmill Museum () is a museum located in the village of Spillum in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The Namsos (town), town of Namsos lies just to the north, across the river Namsen. The museum opened in 1991 at t ...

is located at

just south of the town. The museum is located at the now closed and restored Spillum Dampsag & Hovleri sawmill from 1884. In 1865, the town of Namsos also became a parish in the

. It had been decided to build

Namsos Church Namsos Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the centre of the town of Namsos, just north of the mouth of the river Namsen. It is the church for the Namsos pa ...

in the growing town in March 1859; the construction was finished in November. In May 1865, the parish was created, with the sub-parishes of Sævik and Vemundvik, formerly within Overhalla parish, was incorporated into Namsos' parish limits. Consisting mostly of wooden houses, the town of Namsos has been burned down to the ground on three occasions during its relatively short history. The first fire was in 1872, caused by two boys playing with matches. The second fire was in 1897, from an unknown cause. The third time was during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when the town was bombed by German airplanes on 20 April 1940.

Municipal history

On 1 January 1838, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Vemundvik was established as

Vemundvik Municipality Vemundvik is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 (although it was originally much larger in 1838). By 1964, the municipality roughly corresponded to t ...

(see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). In 1846, the village of

Namsos Namsos may refer to: Places *Namsos Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Namsos (town) Namsos is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative center of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. ...

, located within Vemundvik Municipality, was established as a ladested. Namsos was located at the mouth of the

river in the

area of Vemundvik Municipality. The new ladested (town) was established as its own independent, self-governing municipality, with 591 inhabitants. This left Vemundvik Municipality with 908 residents. Over time, the small town of Namsos grew larger. Areas of Vemundvik Municipality lying adjacent to the town of Namsos were later incorporated within the city limits on numerous occasions. On 1 January 1882, an area with 109 inhabitants was moved to the town; on 1 July 1921 an area with 927 inhabitants; and on 1 July 1957, another area with a population of 6. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the size of Namsos was significantly during a large municipal merger. Namsos, which previously had a population of 5,224, was increased to 10,875 inhabitants and a much larger land area. The following areas were merged to form a new, larger Namsos Municipality. *the town of Namsos (population: 5,224) *all of

(population: 2,040) *all of

Klinga Municipality Klinga is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1891 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed the mainland areas south of the river Namsen in what is now Namsos Municip ...

(population: 2,482) *the northern part of

Otterøy Municipality Otterøy is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county. The former municipality included mo ...

(population: 1,013) *the Finnanger area of

Fosnes Municipality Fosnes is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Namsos Municipality. It was part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the muni ...

(population: 116) On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

county to the new

county. On 1 January 2020,

and

Namdalseid Municipality Namdalseid is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 to 1846 and then again from 1904 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Namsos Municipality. It was part of the Namdalen region. The admin ...

were merged with Namsos Municipality. This occurred because on 16 June 2016 the three municipalities voted to merge as part of a large municipal reform across Norway. Also on 1 January 2020, the mainland

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

area of

Nærøy Municipality Nærøy () is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality of Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. It is now part of Nærøysund Municipality in the Nam ...

was transferred into Namsos Municipality.

Geography

The coastal municipality is located along the

Namsenfjorden Namsenfjorden is a fjord in Trøndelag county, Norway. The long fjord flows along the border between Namsos Municipality and Flatanger Municipality. It runs southeast from the Folda firth, between the mainland in the south and the island of Ot ...

and at the mouth of the river Namsen, one of the richest

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

rivers in Europe. The municipality also includes the islands of

Otterøya Otterøya is an island in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is the largest island in the northern part of Trøndelag county. Otterøya sits just to the northwest of the town of Namsos on the north side of the Namsenf ...

Hoddøya Hoddøya is an island in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It lies in the Namsenfjorden, about west of the town of Namsos. The island is located between the island of Otterøya (to the north and east) and the mainland of Namsos ...

, Elvalandet, and

Jøa Jøa is an island in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Foldafjord, between the mainland and the islands of Otterøya and Elvalandet. The island is partially forested, with the southern p ...

. The lakes

Finnvollvatnet Finnvollvatnet is a lake in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake lies in the western part of the municipality, southwest of the village of Sverkmoen, and only about from the border with the neighboring Osen Municipality. ...

, Gilten, Mjøsundvatnet, and Salvatnet are all located in Namsos Municipality. The large river

has its mouth in the municipality. The river

Sverka Sverka is a small river in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It flows from the lakes called Finnvollvatnet and Furudalsvatnet northeast past the Sverkmoen area to the lake Øyungen. At Øyungen, it joins the river Øyensåa whic ...

also flows through Namsos. The main part of the town of Namsos is built on a small, low-lying

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

which extends into the bay. To the north, low

ed hills rise fairly steeply to over . There is a viewpoint from the hills above the city which is called Klompen with a height of with a road for cars up to the top that is open each summer. To the east extends the wide

valley. To the south over the bay and mouth of the river Namsen are hills that reach . The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Grønkleppen, along the border with

Høylandet Municipality Høylandet is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Høylandet. Other villages include Kongsmoen and Vassbotna. The municipality is the ...

Climate

Namsos has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

, depending on the winter threshold used (0C or -3C). The weather station is near the small airport, situated about inland from Namsos along the river. Monthly average daily high temperature range from in the coldest months (January and February) to in July. The all-time high is recorded on July 27, 2019. The warmest month on record at the airport was July 2014 with average daily high and monthly mean . The record low was recorded January 2010. Autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, while late spring is the driest.

Government

Namsos Municipality is responsible for

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

(through 10th grade), outpatient

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

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the

Trøndelag District Court Trøndelag District Court () is a district court located in Trøndelag county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Brekstad, Namsos, Steinkjer, and Trondheim. The court is subordinate to the Frostating C ...

and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

() of Namsos is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Namsos 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: *1855–1857: Theodor Wessel *1858-1858:

Christian Møinichen Havig Christian Møinichen Havig (April 4, 1825 – April 10, 1912) was a Norwegian bailiff (''lensmann'') and Storting representative for Nordland from 1871 to 1888. Family Havig was born at the Havika farm in Overhalla in the Namdalen district (now ...

*1859-1859: Theodor Wessel *1860-1860: Carl Julius Olsen *1861–1863: Theodor Wessel *1864-1864: Carl Julius Olsen *1865–1867: Johan Sommerschield *1868-1868: Niels Bjørum *1869-1869: H.J. Blix *1870-1870: J. Salvesen *1871–1875: Johan Sommerschield *1876–1878: Andreas Erlandsen *1879–1886: Johannes Bernhard Havig ( H) *1887–1894: Karl Greiff ( H) *1895–1899: Carl Hustad ( V) *1900–1905: Karl Greiff ( H) *1906–1907: Ole Severin Aavatsmark ( V) *1908–1909: Otto Christian Dahl ( AvH) *1910–1913: Ole Severin Aavatsmark ( V) *1914–1919: Anton M. Brandtzæg ( H) *1920–1922: Einar Hustad ( V) *1923–1924: Hermann Thornes ( Ap) *1924–1926: Wilhelm Jakobsen ( Ap) *1927-1927: Johan Wiik ( Ap) *1928-1928: Reidar O. Frog ( Ap) *1929–1930: Einar Hustad ( V) *1930–1934: Johannes Dahl ( AvH) *1935–1941: Hermann Thornes ( Ap/ NS) *1941–1945: Arne Dahl ( NS) *1945-1945: Johan L. Gundersen ( Ap) *1946–1947: Nils Bleness ( Ap) *1947-1947: Adolf Holm ( Ap) *1948–1951: Eystein Sjaamo ( Ap) *1952–1955: Olferd Hojem ( Ap) *1956–1963: Erling Thun ( Ap) *1964–1975: Svein Lorentzen ( Ap) *1976-1991: Gunnar Solum ( Ap) *1992-2003: Snorre Ness ( Ap) *2003-2007: Kåre Aalberg ( SV) *2007-2015: Morten Stene ( Ap) *2015–2021: Arnhild Holstad ( Ap) *2021–2023: Frode Båtnes ( Ap) *2023-present: Amund Lein ( H)

Transportation

Namsos Airport Namsos Airport (; ) is a regional airport located at Høknesøra along the Namsen river, just outside the town of Namsos in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is served with Dash 8 aircraft from Widerøe on public se ...

is located about east of the town of Namsos, with direct flights to Oslo, Trondheim, Rørvik, Mosjøen, Bodø.

Norwegian County Road 17 County Road 17 (), also known as the Coastal Highway (), is a Norwegian highway that runs from the town of Bodø in Nordland county (in the north) to the town of Steinkjer in Trøndelag county (in the south). It is long and includes six ferry ...

runs through part of the municipality. The closed

Namsos Line The Namsos Line () is a railway line between the village of Medjå and the Namsos (town), town of Namsos in Trøndelag county, Norway. The line branch line, branches off from the Nordland Line at Grong Station and runs through Grong Municipality ...

runs from Namsos to

Grong Grong may refer to: Places *Grong Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Medjå Medjå or Grong is a village which serves as the administrative center of Grong Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located along th ...

. The island of

is connected to the mainland via the

Lokkaren Bridge The Lokkaren Bridge () is a suspension bridge in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The bridge crosses the Lokkarsundet strait that runs between the mainland of Namsos and the island of Otterøya Otterøya is an island in Namso ...

Notable people

Public service

Jørgen Johannes Havig Jørgen Johannes Havig (July 31, 1808 – January 19, 1883) was a Norwegian bailiff (''lensmann''), farm owner, and politician. He is regarded as a driving force behind the founding of Namsos, which was established as a " small seaport" ( or ) ...

(1808–1883), a bailiff (

lensmann in modern Norwegian or in Danish and older Norwegian spelling (; ) is a term with several distinct meanings in Nordic history. The Icelandic equivalent was a . Fief-holder The term traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark ...

), farmer, and politician who helped found the town of Namsos *

(1825 in Overhalla – 1912), a Norwegian bailiff (

) * Fredrik Havig (1855 in Namdalen – 1927), a Norwegian judge, mayor, and politician * Osborne J. P. Widtsoe (1877 in Namsos – 1920), the principal of the

Latter-day Saints University Ensign College is a private college in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Founded in 1886, the college is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and operates under its Church Educational System. It also includes ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Olav Heggstad Olav Heggstad (March 5, 1877 – May 2, 1954) was a Norwegians, Norwegian civil engineer and professor at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. Heggstad was born in Namsos (town), Namsos,''Norges tekniske høiskole: Beretning om virksomheten 19 ...

(1877 in Namsos – 1954), a civil engineer and professor at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

* Otto Christian Dahl (1903 in Namsos – 1995), a missionary in Madagascar, linguist, and

government scholar Government scholar () is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the state budget of Norway. The position can be "for li ...

Knut Løfsnes Knut Ingolf Løfsnes (22 December 1918 – 5 January 1996) was a Norwegian resistance member, politician and lawyer. He was a central leader of the clandestine organization XU during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, leading the mi ...

(1918 in Namsos – 1996), a

Norwegian resistance The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governm ...

member, politician, and lawyer *

Live Marié Strømmen Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

(2001 Namsos - present day), a breakdancer and saleswoman *

Guttorm Hansen Guttorm Hansen (3 November 1920 – 2 April 2009) was a Norwegian writer and politician for the Labour Party. He started his career as a mechanic, but after 1945 he was a journalist and editor of magazines and newspapers. Via local politics in hi ...

(1920 in Namsos – 2009), a writer and politician,

President of the Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from 1973-1981, and a prolific book writer * Gunnar Solum (1929–2008), a Norwegian politician who was a four-time Mayor of Namsos * Anne Alvik (born 1937), a physician and civil servant *

Harald Tveit Alvestrand Harald Tveit Alvestrand (born 29 June 1959) is a Norwegian computer scientist. He was chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) from 2001 until 2005, succeeding Fred Baker. Within the IETF, Alvestrand was earlier the chair of the Area ...

(born 1959 Namsos), a computer scientist

The Arts

Olav Duun Olav Duun (21 November 1876 – 13 September 1939) was a writer of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-fo ...

(1876 on Jøa – 1939), a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction *

Arne Svendsen Arne Svendsen (11 December 1884 – 20 November 1958) was a Norwegian songwriter, actor and revue writer. Career Svendsen was born in Fosnes Municipality in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. In 1910, he left home and settled in Fredrikstad Municip ...

(1884 in Fosnes – 1958), a songwriter, folk poet, actor, and revue writer. Retrieved 28 August 2020. *

Simon Flem Devold Simon Flem Devold birthname Helge Flem Devold (17 March 1929 – 20 May 2015) born in Namsos, Norway, was a Norwegian author, journalist and jazz clarinetist. When he was three years of age he and his family moved to Ålesund, where he was raise ...

(1929 in Namsos – 2015), an author, journalist, and jazz clarinetist *

Åge Aleksandersen Åge Aleksandersen (born 21 March 1949) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is one of his country's best known musicians. Some of his most well known songs are "Lys og varme" ("Light and Warmth"), "Fire pils og en pizza" ("Four B ...

(born 1949 in Namsos), a Norwegian singer, songwriter, and guitarist *

Terje Tysland Terje Tysland (born 14 April 1951) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, guitarist and accordion player. Tysland was born in Namsos (town), Namsos. From 1969 to 1976 he was member of the rock group ''Prudence'', led by Åge Aleksandersen. His first ...

(born 1951 in Namsos), a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and accordion player *

Idar Lind Idar Lind (born 23 September 1954) is a Norwegian novelist, crime fiction writer, songwriter, and playwright. Biography Lind was born on the island of Otterøya (now part of Namsos Municipality) in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. He made his lit ...

(born 1954 on Otterøya), novelist, crime fiction writer, songwriter, and playwright * Carl Frode Tiller (born 1970 in Namsos), a

Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

author, historian, and musician * Frode Saugestad (born 1974 in Namsos), a literary scholar, publisher, and adventurer * Jostein Gulbrandsen (born 1976 in Namsos), a New York-based guitarist, and composer *

Jon Rune Strøm Jon Rune Strøm (born 29 January 1985) is a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass, bass guitar). Biography Strøm was born in Namsos Municipality, and was raised on an island in the north-western coast of Norway. His early influences included ...

(born 1985 in Namsos), a Jazz musician who plays upright bass and bass guitar * D.D.E., a pop/rock group founded in Namsos in 1992

Sport

* Anton Dahl (1882 in Bangsund–1952), a sports shooter who competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

Tone Haugen Tone Haugen (born 6 February 1964) is a former Norwegian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. With the Norway women's national team, Haugen won the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and an Olympic bronze medal in 1996. At club level ...

(born 1964 in Namsos), a former footballer with 90 appearances with the

Norway women's national football team The Norway women's national football team () represents Norway in international Women's association football, football, and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one ...

and team bronze medallist at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Per Joar Hansen Per Joar Hansen (born 17 August 1965) is a Norwegian football coach. He grew up in the small community of Trofors in Nordland. He played for and managed Rosenborg BK, and he has managed GIF Sundsvall, Aalesunds FK, Ranheim and the Norwegian un ...

(born 1965 in Namsos), a Norwegian football coach * twins

Nina Solheim Nina Solheim (born 4 August 1979) is a Norwegian taekwondo practitioner. She won a silver medal in the women's heavyweight (+67 kg) division at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, beaten by Mexican María del Rosario Espinoza i ...

Mona Solheim Mona Solheim (born 4 August 1979) is a Norwegian taekwondo practitioner. Biography Solheim competed at the 1999, 2007, 2009 and 2011 World Taekwondo Championships. She won a bronze medal in lightweight at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championshi ...

(born 1979), a Norwegian taekwondo practitioners *

Gunhild Følstad Gunhild Bentzen Følstad (born 3 November 1981) is a Norwegian former football defender from Overhalla Municipality (near Namsos). The daughter of a football trainer, she played for Trondheims-Ørn and the Norway women's national football team, ...

(born 1981 in Overhalla), a former footballer who made 76 appearances for the

Kjell Rune Sellin Kjell Rune Sellin (born 1 June 1989) is a former Norwegian footballer. He came to Rosenborg BK from Norwegian Second Division team Byåsen IL in August 2008. He made his debut for Rosenborg as a substitute in the 4-0 loss against Tromsø IL the ...

(born 1989 in Namsos), a footballer with over 300 club caps

Media gallery

File:Namsos fraa fjorden.jpg, View of the town from the fjord File:Luftfoto2SpillumDampsag.jpg, Sawmill Museum File:Bangsund1.jpg, View of Bangsund File:3. Kart.tif, Map of the area File:Namsos sentrum fra byfjellet klompen ca 1935.jpg, View of the town in 1935 File:Ruinsofnamsos.jpg, View of the town in 1940 after the German bombing

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Oasen Swimming Pool

Avinor: Picture showing Namsos Airport and Namsos
{{authority control Municipalities of Trøndelag 1846 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1846