Skjåk is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. 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 Bismo. Most of the municipal residents live in the

Billingsdalen Billingsdal or Billingsdalen is a river valley in the municipality of Skjåk in Innlandet county, Norway. The valley is the inner part of the larger Ottadalen valley which is the valley through which the river Otta flows. It is considered a later ...

and Ottadalen valleys along the river Otta. The local newspaper is named ''

Fjuken ''Fjuken'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Skjåk, Norway. It serves for Skjåk, Lom and Vågå. History and profile ''Fjuken'' was founded in 1989. The founders were initially community members. The paper is published by the company Sk ...

''. The municipality is the 33rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Skjåk is the 270th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,151. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 6.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Skjåk was established on 1 January 1866 when the municipality of Lom was divided and the western part of the municipality (population: 2,691) became the new municipality of Skjåk (historically spelled ''Skiaker''). The eastern part of the municipality (population: 3,299) remained as Lom.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Skjåk'' farm ( non, Skeiðakr), since the first

Skjåk Church Skjåk Church ( no, Skjåk kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Skjåk. It is the church for the Skjåk parish which is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal ...

was built here. The first element is ''skeið'' which means "a running track for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

" and the last element is ''akr'' which means " field" or "

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

". Prior to 1889, the name was written "Skiaker", then from 1889 to 1910 it was spelled "Skiaaker", from 1911 to 1920 it was "Skjaak", and since 1921 it has been written in its present form, "Skjåk".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 31 March 1989. It shows four white or silver-colored acanthus leaves on a blue background. This was picked to symbolize growth and strength. These symbols are found in many historic artifacts from around the area.

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 Skjåk. It is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal 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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

Geography

Skjåk is the westernmost municipality in the Ottadalen valley. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Fjord, Rauma, and Lesja, in the east and southeast by Lom, in the south by Luster and in the west by

Stryn Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of t ...

and

Stranda Stranda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda. Stranda consists of three smaller villages and one larger central villag ...

. The municipality lies along the Otta river between the mountainous areas of Breheim and Reinheim. Bismo is the modern population center and the location of the majority of industry and shopping as well as the municipal administration. The community is at the meeting point between Gudbrandsdalen and the mountains between the eastern parts of Norway and the west coast. The municipality lies on a historically significant traffic artery between Stryn and Nordfjord,

Geiranger Geiranger is a small tourist village in Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county in the western part of Norway. It is in the municipality of Stranda at the head of the Geirangerfjorden, which is a branch of the large Storfjorden. The nearest ...

, and

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

and the more easterly Ottadal municipalities of Lom and Vågå. The Breheimen National Park and

Reinheimen National Park Reinheimen National Park ( no, Reinheimen nasjonalpark) is a national park in Norway that was established in 2006. The park consists of a continuous protected mountain area. It is located in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. The ...

are both located in the municipality. Of the total area, is used for agriculture; for forestry; is covered by water (including the

Breiddalsvatnet Breiddalsvatnet is a lake in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake lies just west of the village of Grotli. The Norwegian National Road 15 runs along the north side of the lake. The mountains Helleggi and Krosshø are loca ...

lake); and the rest is mountains and other non- arable land. Virtually the entire long valley floor is continuously, but sparsely, built up. Skjåk serves as a point of entry to the mountain areas just west;

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and fishing are also popular tourist activities. The municipality includes a number of large lakes including

Aursjoen Aursjoen is a lake in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake sits at an elevation of above sea level. The lake lies about north of the village of Bismo. The mountain Horrungen lies just east of the lake. Reinheimen Nationa ...

Grønvatnet Grønvatnet is a lake in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake lies within the Tafjordfjella mountain range, about north of the village of Grotli. The mountain lake lies in a low area surrounded by mountains, just west of ...

, Langvatnet, Rauddalsvatn, and

Tordsvatnet Tordsvatnet is a lake in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake lies within the Tafjordfjella mountain range inside the Reinheimen National Park. The mountain lake lies about northwest of the village of Bismo. The lake lies i ...

. The Breheimen mountains run through the municipality and the

Holåbreen Holåbreen is a glacier in the municipalities Skjåk (in Innlandet county) and Luster (in Vestland county) in Norway. Located in the mountain range Breheimen, it has a total area of about . The glacier lies between the mountains Gjelhøi and H ...

and

Tystigbreen Tystigbreen is a glacier that is located on the border between Vestland and Innlandet counties in Norway. The glacier is located in the municipalities of Stryn and Skjåk, about east of the lake Oppstrynsvatnet. The Norwegian National Roa ...

glaciers are located in those mountains.

Climate

Nestled in a deep valley, the populated regions of Skjåk are

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

ed and as a result are actually one of the most arid places in Europe with annual precipitation of about per year, but it avoids a

steppe climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

( Köppen ''Bsk'') by being too cold (mean annual temperature of ), thus having a low evapotranspiration rate, and having precipitation too spread out (about 55% in summer). This gives Skjåk a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(Köppen ''Dfc''), thanks to low overall precipitation levels in summer. In addition, one side of the valley, ''solsida'' ("the sunny side"), has a southern exposure, whereas ''baksida'' (the "back side") gets very little sun. Agriculture has been enabled by elaborate irrigation systems for hundreds of years, so the area is green and productive rather than desert-like.

History

Skjåk has historical roots back to the Viking Age and has a rich cultural heritage. An ancient route of travel between east and west went from Skjåk up through the Raudal valley and down through the Sunndal valley to

on an arm of the Nordfjord. For example, in 1197, according to King Sverre's

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

, Bishop Nikolaus is reported to have sent a group of

bagler The Bagli Party or Bagler (Old Norse: ''Baglarr'', Norwegian Bokmål: ''Bagler'', Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Baglar'') was a faction or party during the Norwegian Civil Wars. The Bagler faction was made up principally of the Norwegian aristocracy, clerg ...

s from Oppdal over the mountains to Stryn on Nordfjord, via Raudal.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Skjåk, 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 elects a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Vestre Innlandet District Court Vestre Innlandet District Court ( no, Vestre Innlandet tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Innlandet county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Gjøvik (town), Gjøvik, Fag ...

and the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal ( no, Eidsivating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Innlandet and eastern Viken. These ...

Municipal council

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

Mayors

The mayors of Skjåk (incomplete list): *1960–1971: Trygve Bakke ( Sp) *1972–1983: Hans Krogstad ( Sp) *1984–1987: Åge Willy Rønningen ( Ap) *1988–1995: Margit Grimstad Lien ( Sp) *1996–2003: Hans Krogstad ( Sp) *2003–2007: Ola Stensgård ( Sp) *2007–2015: Rolv Kristen Øygard ( Sp) *2015–2019: Elias Sperstad ( Sp) *2019–present: Edel Kveen ( Sp)

Notable residents

* Skjåk-Ola, (Norwegian Wiki) (1744 in Skjåk - 1803) real name ''Ola Rasmussen Skjåk'', wood carver *

Tore Ørjasæter Tore Ørjasæter (3 March 1886 – 29 February 1968) was a Norwegian educator and poet.

Biography

� ...

(1886 in Skjåk – 1968) an educator, literature critic, author and poet * Jan-Magnus Bruheim (1914 in Skjåk – 1988) a Norwegian poet and children's writer * Magnhild Bruheim, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1951 in Skjåk) author and journalist *

Rune Øygard Rune Øygard (born 27 April 1959) is a former Norwegian politician representing the Norwegian Labour Party, who served as mayor of Vågå from 1995 to 2012 when he was granted leave following his indictment for child sexual abuse in a much publici ...

(born 1959 in Skjåk) a former politician and convicted paedophile * Trond Bersu (born 1984 in Skjåk) a Norwegian drummer and producer

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:Skjaak Municipalities of Innlandet 1866 establishments in Norway