Sørreisa ( sme, Ráisavuona suohkan) is a

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

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. 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 is the village of

Sørreisa Sørreisa ( sme, Ráisavuona suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skøelva, and Smørsgård. The municip ...

. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skøelva, and Smørsgård. The municipality is the 248th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sørreisa is the 218th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,414. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is and its population has increased by 1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of ''Sørreisen'' was established on 1 September 1886 when the large

Tranøy Municipality Tranøy is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality is situated on the southern coast of the large island of Senja. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was me ...

was divided into three: Tranøy (population: 1,239) in the west,

Dyrøy Dyrøy ( sme, Divrráid suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Brøstadbotn. Other villages include Dyrøyhamn, Espenes, Holm, and Hundstrand. The m ...

(population: 1,281) in the south, and Sørreisen (population: 1,361) in the east. Later, the spelling was changed to ''Sørreisa''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, the part of Sørreisa across the Reisafjorden on the island of Senja (population: 129) was transferred to

Lenvik Municipality Lenvik ( sme, Leaŋgáviika) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the isla ...

. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed

county. Previously, it had been part of the old

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

county.

Name

The municipality is named after the Reisafjorden (originally ''Reisa''), which again is named after the Reisaelva (the "Reisa river" - originally ''Reisa''). The river name is derived from the verb ''rísa'' which means "raise" (referring to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing). The first element ''Sør'' ("south") was added to distinguish the municipality from Nordreisa Municipality (located further to the north in the same county). The municipality was originally named Sørreisen.

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 latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 7 September 1984. The arms show three gold

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

s on a red background. It was derived from the oldest known seal in the municipality, a 17th-century seal of Jacob Hansen Kinapel, who was a police sergeant in Sørreisa from 1715 to 1748.

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 ...

has one parish () within the municipality of Sørreisa. It is part of the

Indre Troms prosti Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

(

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 Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø ...

Geography

Sørreisa is located on the western coast of Norway, along the Reisafjorden, just east of the large island of Senja. The municipality is mostly populated along the shoreline. The municipality of

lies to the west,

Salangen Salangen is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages include Elvenes, Laberg, and Seljesko ...

and

Bardu Bardu ( sme, Bearddu suohkan, fkv, Perttulan komuuni) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality. The municipali ...

to the south, Målselv to the east, and Lenvik to the north.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sørreisa, are 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,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

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 Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, 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 o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. 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, rural counci ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The municipality falls under the

Senja District Court Senja District Court ( no, Senja tingrett) was a district court located in the town of Finnsnes in Troms county, Norway. The court served the central and southeastern part of the county which included the municipalities of Bardu, Berg, Dyrøy, L ...

and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Sørreisa is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a 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 often feature f ...

breakdown of the council is as follows: Biskop Herborg Oline Finnset (2017) (37177981266)

Notable people

* Amalie Øvergaard (1874 in Sørreisa – 1960) a Norwegian women's leader * Berger Torrissen (1901 in Sørreisa – 1991) an American skier, competed in the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

for the USA * Willy Ovesen (1924 in Sørreisa – 2015) a Norwegian civil servant, director of the Norwegian Tax Administration from 1982 to 1994 * Herborg Finnset (born 1961 in Sørreisa) a Norwegian prelate of the Church of Norway and the

Bishop 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 ...

from 2018 *

Tore Rismo Tore Rismo (born 29 January 1961) is a retired Norwegian football midfielder. Hailing from Sørreisa, he lived with his family in Belgium from age 12 to 15, then returned home and started playing senior football for Sørreisa IL. After one s ...

(born 1961 in Sørreisa) a retired Norwegian football midfielder *

Siri Pettersen Siri Pettersen (born 28 October 1971 in Finnsnes) is a Norwegian writer of YA fantasy novels, whose first trilogy '' The Raven Rings'' (2013-15) have been translated into several languages, including English and German. In younger years, she was a ...

(born 1971) a Norwegian writer and comics creator, brought up in Sørreisa

Gallery

File:Kramvigbrygga 001.jpg, Kramvigbrygga, part of Midt-Troms museum File:Sørreisa, Norway - panoramio.jpg, Sørreisa, Norway File:Bognes soerreisa 2007.jpg, M/S Bognes, Soerreisa 2007 File:Sørreisa church.jpg, Sørreisa church

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, 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 yea ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorreisa Municipalities of Troms og Finnmark 1886 establishments in Norway