Bindal is a municipality in the

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svartise ...

region in the extreme southwest part of

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

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 ...

is the village of

Terråk Terråk is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bindal in Nordland country, Norway. The village is located in the eastern part of the municipality, along the shore of the Sørfjorden arm of the Bindalsfjorden. The nearby Vassås Br ...

. Other villages include Bindalseidet,

Holm Holm may refer to: Places * Holm (island), the name of several islands * Holm, Nordfriesland, Germany * Holm, Pinneberg, Germany * Holm (Flensburg), Flensburg, Germany * Holm, Norway, in Nordland county * Holm, Troms, Norway * Holm, Podu Iloa ...

Vassås Vassås is a small village in the municipality of Bindal in Nordland county, Norway. It is located along the Tosen arm of the Bindalsfjorden, just north of the Vassås Bridge which connects the village to the larger village of Terråk. The v ...

, Horsfjord and

Åbygda Åbygda is a village in the municipality of Bindal in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located along the river Åbjøra, about southeast of the villages of Vassås and Terråk. Åbygda is the birthplace of Otto Sverdrup, a polar exp ...

. The municipality is the 81st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bindal is the 304th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,406. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

left, Hildringen in Bindal (1852). In 1838, the parish of Bindal was split into two municipalities (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) because the parish included land in both the counties of

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

and

. The new law required that municipalities be located only in one county, so the parish was divided into two municipalities:

Nordbindalen Nord-Bindalen or Nordbindalen is a former administrative entity in the Helgeland district of Northern Norway. It was in existence from 1658 to 1852. It is located in the present-day municipality of Bindal. History The ancient district of Bind ...

and Sørbindalen. In 1852, the county border was moved south to its current position and the municipalities of Nordbindalen and Sørbindalen were merged back together to form the municipality of Bindal. On 1 January 1964, the area around the inner

Bindalsfjorden Bindalsfjorden is a fjord in the southern part of Nordland county, Norway. Location The fjord is mostly located in the municipality of Bindal with a small part in neighboring Sømna municipality. Geography The long fjord begins near the vil ...

and the village of

Lande Lande may refer to: Places *Lande, Østfold, Norway *Lande, Norway, a village in the municipality of Brønnøy in Nordland, Norway *Château de la Lande (disambiguation), various castles in France *Lac de la Lande, a lake in Vosges, France Other u ...

(population: 296) was transferred to Brønnøy Municipality.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was ''Birnudalr''. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

of the river name ''Birna'' (now

Åbjøra Åbjøra or Åelva is a river in the municipality of Bindal in Nordland county, Norway. It begins in the mountains between the Tosen fjord and the Namdalen valley. The long river passes through some lakes, including the lake Åbjørvatnet, ...

) and the last element is ''dalr'' which means " valley" or "dale". The river name is derived from the word ''birna'' which means "(female)

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted in 1990. The arms show six gold rivets on a blue background to represent the boat building industry in the municipality.

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 two parishes () within the municipality of Bindal. It is part of the

Sør-Helgeland prosti Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svart ...

(

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

Bindal borders four municipalities in Trøndelag county:

Høylandet 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 th ...

and Nærøy in the south, Namsskogan in the southeast, and Leka in the west. Bindal also has borders with the Nordland municipalities of Sømna, Brønnøy, and Grane. The

runs through the central part of the municipality. From the coast, the municipality reaches into the mountains towards the lake

Majavatnet or is a lake in the municipality of Grane in Nordland county, Norway. The lake lies just west of Børgefjell National Park in southern Grane. The village of Majavatn lies on the eastern shore of the lake. European route E6 and the Nordl ...

in Grane. The tallest mountain is the tall

Heilhornet Heilhornet is a mountain in the municipality of Bindal in Nordland, Norway. It has a height of and is a landmark visible from the sea lane. The Norwegian County Road 17 County Road 17 ( no, Fylkesvei 17), also known as the Coastal Highway ( ...

. It also includes part of the lakes

Eidevatnet Eidvatnet or Eidevatnet is a lake that is located in Bindal Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The lake lies in the northern part of Bindal that is very sparsely populated. The lake Fjellvatnet flows to the southwest into this lake. Se ...

and

Fjellvatnet Fjellvatnet is a lake that is located in Nordland county, Norway. The lake lies mostly in Bindal Municipality, but the far eastern part of the lake extends into the neighboring Brønnøy Municipality where it is known as ''Storvatnet''. It flow ...

, which also partially lie in Brønnøy municipality. Other lakes include

Åbjørvatnet or is a lake that lies in the southeastern part of the municipality of Bindal in Nordland county, Norway. The lake is part of the river Åbjøra, about east of the village of Åbygda. See also * List of lakes in Norway * Geography of Norway ...

, Kalvvatnet, and Saglivatnet. The river

runs through the eastern part of Bindal. Part of the island of Austra is in Bindal.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Bindal, 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 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. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Brønnøy District Court Brønnøy District Court ( no, Brønnøy tingrett) was a district court (Norway), district court in Nordland county, Norway. The court was based in the Brønnøysund, town of Brønnøysund. The court existed from 1919 until 2021. It served the mun ...

and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Bindal is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Bindal (incomplete list): *2015–present: Britt Helstad ( Ap) *2010-2015: Petter Bjørnli ( H) *2007-2010: Per-André Johansen (Ap) *1983-2007: Magne H. Paulsen (Ap) *1980-1983: Kristen I. Sylten (Ap) *1964-1967: Kristen I. Sylten (Ap)

Notable people

* Otto Sverdrup (1854 in Bindal – 1930) a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer *

Fredrik Paasche Johan Fredrik Paasche (3 February 1886 – 1 September 1943) was a Norwegian educator, author and literary historian. Biography Johan Fredrik Amundsen was born at Bindal in Nordland, Norway. He was the son of Olaf Kristian Amundsen (1850–1910 ...

(1886 in Bindal – 1943) a Norwegian educator, author and literary historian *

Carl Ludvig Godske Carl Ludvig Schreiner Godske (20 May 1906 – 3 July 1970) was a Norwegian mathematician and meteorologist. He was born in Bindal. He was a member of the Bergen School of Meteorology, working as meteorologist in Bergen from 1938, and appointed ...

(1906 in Bindal – 1970) a Norwegian mathematician and meteorologist *

Lisbeth Berg-Hansen Lisbeth Berg-Hansen (born 14 March 1963) is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Labour Party. She chaired the Norwegian Seafood Federation from 2002 to 2005, and was Vice President of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise from ...

(born 1963 in Bindal) a Norwegian salmon farmer and politician

Economy

The most important industries in Bindal are

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

, farming and forestry.

Culture

Boat races for Nordland boats have been held annually since 1978 in the main village of

during the last weekend of June. Bindal has a traditional

boat-building Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires. Construction materials and methods Wood W ...

industry and Nordland boats are still manufactured here.

Education

Bindal has two schools; one of them is classified as independent and therefore not administered by the municipality. *''Terråk skole'' in

is a 1st-10th grade school and the largest in Bindal with approximately 100 students attending it. *''Bindalseidet friskole'' is an independent school located in Bindalseidet. It is a 1st-10th grade school.

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 ...

* {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Nordland 1852 establishments in Norway