Vevelstad 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

Forvika Forvika or Forvik is the administrative centre of the municipality of Vevelstad in Nordland county, Norway. Forsvika sits on the coastline along the Vevelstadsundet strait, just north of Vevelstad Church. Forvika is the southern terminus of the ...

. The municipality is the 199th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vevelstad is the 352nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 462. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 9.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Vevelstad was established on 1 July 1916 when it was separated from the municipality of

Tjøtta Tjøtta is a village in Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Tjøtta, which is located south of the large island of Alsta. The village is located on an island, but it does have a ...

. Initially, the municipality had 1,097 residents. On 1 July 1920, the Giskå farm area (population: 10) was transferred from

to Vevelstad. The borders have not changed since that time.

Name

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

Vevelstad Church Vevelstad Church ( no, Vevelstad kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vevelstad Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Forvika. It is the main church for the Vevelstad parish which is part of the S ...

was built there. 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 Norse male name ''Vifill'' and the last element is ''staðir'' which means " homestead" or " farm".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 13 November 1991. The arms are blue with three silver V shapes (two over one). The arms are canting, showing the first letter of the name of the municipality, V. The municipality applied for arms in the 1970s, but all the proposals were rejected by either the municipal council or the national archives. Finally, the present arms were adopted and granted in 1991.

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 Vevelstad. 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

The municipality lies in the middle of Norway, surrounded by mountains and fjords. A lot of the municipality is a part of

Lomsdal–Visten National Park Lomsdal–Visten National Park ( no, Lomsdal–Visten nasjonalpark, sma, Njaarken vaarjelimmiedajve) is a Norwegian national park that was established on 26 June 2009. The park consists of a total protected area of . It is located in Nordland co ...

. The lake

Søre Vistvatnet or is a lake that lies in the municipality of Vevelstad in Nordland county, Norway. The lake is locally known as ''Væstanjaevrie''. Perched at an elevation of , it has a total surface area of . It lies within the periphery of the wild Lomsdal ...

lies in the southeastern part of the municipality inside the national park. Most of the residents live along the coastline or on the island Hamnøya. The mouth of the

Velfjorden Velfjorden is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. The fjord is located mostly in Brønnøy Municipality Brønnøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre and commercial ce ...

lies in the southern part of the municipality.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vevelstad, 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 Vevelstad is made up of 13 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Vevelstad (incomplete list): *2019–present: Torhild Haugann ( Sp) *2015-2019:

Kari Anne Bøkestad Andreassen Kari Anne Bøkestad Andreassen (born 16 December 1973) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. She served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Nordland during the term 2017–2021. In her native Vevelstad she b ...

( LL) *2003-2015: Ken-Richard Hansen (LL) *1999-2003: Arnt O. Åsvang (LL) *1988-1999: Harald Axelsen ( Ap)

Notable people

(born 1973 in Vevelstad) a Norwegian politician, the first female Mayor of the municipality

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 ...

*http://oklausse.home.online.no/vevelstad/ {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Nordland 1916 establishments in Norway