Leirfjord is a 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. It is part of 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 ...

traditional region. 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 Leland. Other villages in Leirfjord include Bardalssjøen and

Sundøy Sundøy or Sundøya is a village in the municipality of Leirfjord in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located about south of the village of Leland. Sundøya has a population of about 120 people. It is located on the north side of the V ...

. The large

Helgeland Bridge The Helgeland Bridge ( no, Helgelandsbrua) is a cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Leirfjorden between the mainland (in Leirfjord Municipality) and the island of Alsta (in Alstahaug Municipality) in Nordland county, Norway. The town of Sandnes ...

is partly located in the municipality, connecting it to

Alstahaug Municipality Alstahaug is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Some of the villages in Alstahaug include Søvika and Tjøtta. Most resid ...

and the town of

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located on ...

. The municipality is the 213th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Leirfjord is the 264th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,257. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Leirfjord was established on 1 July 1915 when it was separated from the municipality of Stamnes. Initially, the municipality had 2,003 residents. In 1945, a small part of

Nesna Municipality Nesna is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Nesna (village), ...

(population: 45) was merged into Leirfjord. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Leirfjord Municipality (population: 1,936) was merged with the parts of

located south of the Ranfjorden (population: 580) and the parts of Tjøtta Municipality on the island of

Alsta Alsta (historically, ''Alsten'' or ''Alstein'') is an island in the municipalities of Alstahaug and Leirfjord in Nordland county, Norway. The island is surrounded by the Vefsnfjorden to the east, the Leirfjorden to the north, and the Alstenfjo ...

(population: 180) to form a new, larger municipality of Leirfjord.

Name

The municipality is named after the

Leirfjorden Leirfjorden is a fjord in the municipalities of Leirfjord and Alstahaug in Nordland county, Norway. The long fjord is located east of the town of Sandnessjøen, between the mainland and the island of Alsta. There is a short strait that conn ...

. The old name of the fjord was probably just ''Leiri'', derived from the name of the river ''Leira'', which has its mouth in the end of the fjord. The river name is derived from the word ''leirr'' which means " clay".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 October 1992. The arms show a green branch cross on a gold background. It symbolizes forestry and agriculture in the municipality as well as the central location of the north–south and east–west roads through the municipality. The arms were designed by Jarle E. Henriksen from the nearby town of

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 Leirfjord. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland 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 of Leirfjord is centered on the

, with most of the municipality on the mainland and a small part on the northeastern part of the island of

. The

Sundøy Bridge The Sundøy Bridge ( no, Sundøybrua) is a cantilever bridge in the municipality of Leirfjord in Nordland county, Norway. The concrete bridge connects the mainland to the village of Sundøy on the island of Alsta. The bridge has three spans, w ...

connects the mainland to the northeastern part of the island of

and the

connects it to the rest of Alsta and the town of Sandnessjøen. The Ranfjorden runs along the northern part of Leirfjord and the

Vefsnfjorden The Vefsnfjord or Vefsnfjorden is a fjord in the Helgeland traditional district of Nordland county, Norway. It is about long, reaching a maximum depth of about below sea level. The fjord flows through the municipalities of Alstahaug, Leirfj ...

runs along the southern part of the municipality.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Leirfjord, 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

Alstahaug District Court Alstahaug District Court ( no, Alstahaug tingrett) was a district court in Nordland county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Sandnessjøen. The court existed from 1859 until 2021. It served the municipalities of Alstahaug, Dønna, Gra ...

and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

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

Notable people

Gunvald Ludvigsen Gunvald Ludvigsen (born 15 February 1949 in Leirfjord) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 202 ...

(born 1949 in Leirfjord) a Norwegian politician; Mayor of Eid 2003-2005 * Roger Johansen (born 1973 in Leirfjord) a Norwegian ice sledge hockey player; competed at the

2010 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 44 , athletes = 506 , events = 64 in 5 sports , opening = 12 March , closing = 21 March , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Zach Beaumont , stadium = BC Place , winter_pr ...

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 1915 establishments in Norway