Saltdal ( sme, Sálát) 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 ...

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, ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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 countries, 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 ...

. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. 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

Rognan Rognan is a village and the administrative centre of the municipality of Saltdal in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located at the innermost part of Skjerstad Fjord, called Saltdal Fjord. It is located about north of the village of R ...

. Other villages in Saltdal include

Røkland Røkland is a village in the municipality of Saltdal in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located along the Saltdalselva river about south of the municipal centre of Rognan. European route E06 and the Nordland Line both pass through th ...

and

Lønsdal Lønsdal is a village in the municipality of Saltdal in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located in the Lønsdal valley, along the Lønselva river. European route E06 highway and the Nordland Line both pass through the village. The villag ...

. The municipality is the 26th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Saltdal is the 187th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,617. 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 RosenberPopu ...

is and its population has decreased by 2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Saltdal was established on 1 January 1838 (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 Janu ...

law). In 1949, a small area of Skjerstad Municipality (population: 10) was transferred to Saltdal. Other than that one change, the borders have never changed.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

form of the name must have been ''Salptardalr''. 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 a ...

of the river name ''Salpt'' which means "strong steam", (now Saltdalselva, which runs through Saltdal) and the last element is ''dalr'' which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

" or "dale".

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted in 1988. The arms show two gold-colored

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

twig A twig is a thin, often short, branch of a tree or bush. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away. The color, texture, and patterning of the twig bark ar ...

s on a red background. It was chosen to represent nature and the prevalence of

forests 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 ...

has two parishes () within the municipality of Saltdal. It is part of the Salten 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 reside ...

) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Germans decided to lengthen the Nordland Line from

in Saltfjellet going northwards. Over a period of three years, the original plan was to first have both the road and the railroad all the way to

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of t ...

and then on to

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

, but they only managed to build the railroad to

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland coun ...

. The Germans continued to lengthen the road to Kirkenes, and it came to be known as ''Blodvegen'' ("the

Blood Road The Blood Road ( no, Blodveien) is a route northeast of Rognan in the municipality of Saltdal in Nordland county, Norway that was built by prisoners during the Second World War. The route was a new section of Norwegian National Road 50 betwe ...

") by locals. This project involved

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

, mostly from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, in building this road under extremely harsh conditions. The workers lived in prison camps where they did not receive enough food for their hard work building the road. This caused many of the workers to collapse and die. A famous sign of this road is the blood cross one of the prisoners drew on the mountainside with his recently killed friend's blood. It has become a tradition to repaint this cross with red paint, so people who pass this will never forget what happened. It's still possible to walk this road, which stretches from Saltnes to Soksenvika. At Saltnes, you will find the Blood Road museum. Saltdal was known for having some of the most horrifying

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

s in Norway during World War II. A grand total of 15-18 camps with 9,500

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n, Polish, and

n prisoners were located in the valley.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Saltdal, 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 ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, 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 during the refe ...

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 adminis ...

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 ...

, 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 o ...

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 counc ...

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 ...

. The municipality falls under the Salten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Saltdal is made up of 21 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 featu ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Saltdal (incomplete list): *2015–present: Rune Berg ( Sp) *2011-2015: Finn-Obert Bentsen ( Ap) *1999-2011: Kjell Magne Johansen (Ap)

Geography

Junkerdalen-nature-reserve-saltdal2-norway

The main centre in the municipality is

, on the southern shore of the Saltdal Fjord, where the valley floor meets the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

. When the

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

ended and the ice had melted 9,000 years ago, the valley was a fjord as the sea reached what is today an elevation of due to isostatic depression. The valley is situated just north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

. Two national parks are partially in the municipality: Saltfjellet–Svartisen National Park in the southwest, and Junkerdal National Park in the eastern part. This makes Saltdal one of the municipalities in Norway with the largest percentage of protected areas within its borders. The river Saltdalselva runs through the valley. The riverbed appears very bright in some places due to the minerals in the sand. The valley is covered with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

and other trees are common as well. Lakes in the region include Balvatnet, Fiskeløysvatnet, Kjemåvatnet, and Nordre Bjøllåvatnet. The mountain Ørfjellet is also located in the municipality.

Climate

The municipality lies on the northeastern side of the Saltfjellet mountains, in the

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 ca ...

of the mountains. With mountains surrounding it in almost all directions, Saltdal is one of the driest areas in Norway, especially the upper part of the valley. For five years in a row, 2001 to 2005, and then again in 2007 and 2008, the weather station in the upper part of the Saltdal valley recorded the least

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

in all of continental Norway, with only in 2005. The weather station (81 m ASL) was situated in the upper part of the valley (''Storjord'') at a farm from 1982 to 2012. From 2013 onwards, the weather station (39 m) is situated about down the valley at a camping site (''Nordnes''), but still in the upper part of the valley (''Øvre Saltdal''). Data from the first station (81 m) shows this to be the driest place in Norway (excluding Svalbard), with on average just over precipitation annually. In spite of the low precipitation, Saltdal has lush vegetation with meadows and forests on the side of the mountains due to the low temperatures reducing

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transp ...

. Due to the rarity of extreme cold snaps, the environment and plant hardiness resemble latitudes further south in the Nordic interior. Located in an inland valley, Saltdal is also known for its warm summer days, frequently being one of Norway's warmest locations if the right weather situation occurs (with easterly or southeasterly winds blowing). It is not uncommon with daytime temperatures approaching and sometimes exceeding in the summer months. Similarly, winter temperatures can be quite cold, often dropping below on a clear day. During a heatwave in June 2011, Saltdal recorded four days in a row with daytime temperatures exceeding . On 11 June 2011, Saltdal recorded a daytime high of , which was a new heat record for Nordland county in the month of June. During the July 2019 European heat wave the temperature reached at in Saltdal, the highest temperature ever measured north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. The all-time low was recorded January 2010.

Transportation

The

European route E6 European route E6 ( no, Europavei 6, sv, Europaväg 6, or simply E6) is the main north-south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and thr ...

highway passes through the entire length of Saltdal, with the Nordland Line running alongside it. A road running east through the Junkerdalen valley ( National Road 77) leads to Sweden. The nearest main airport is in

, about 90 minutes from Rognan by road. There is a general aviation airport— Rognan Airport.

Economy

Saltdal has a great history in

boat building Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull (watercraft), hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires. Construction materials and met ...

out of local timber. Especially before

, the boatbuilding industry employed a large percentage of Saltdal's population. Nowadays, the largest employer in Saltdal is

Nexans Nexans S.A. is a global company in the cable and optical fiber industry headquartered in Paris, France. The group is active in four main business areas: buildings and territories (construction, local infrastructure, smart cities / grids, e-mo ...

. The company's Rognan factory specializes in

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

, fibre optics and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

cables. There is also some

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

in Saltdal, and many people work within

public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

Notable people

* Ludvig Kristensen Daa (1809 in Saltdal – 1877) a Norwegian historian, ethnologist, auditor, editor of magazines and newspapers, educator and politician * Arne Hjersing (1860 in Saltdal – 1926) a Norwegian painter *

Bernhoff Hansen Bernhoff Otelius Hansen (August 17, 1877 – December 22, 1950) was a Norwegian wrestler who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics for the United States. He was born in Rognan in the municipality of Saltdal in Norway. Originally he was ...

(1877 in Rognan – 1950) a Norwegian wrestler, gold medallist in the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended ...

* Erling Engan (1910 in Saltdal – 1982) a Norwegian politician *

Trygve Henrik Hoff Trygve Henrik Hoff (7 July 1938 – 2 December 1987), born in Rognan, Nordland, was a Norwegian singer, composer, songwriter, and writer. He was a teacher at Buskerud folkehøgskole (Heimtun) for many years when he lived in Darbu, Øvre Eik ...

(1938 in Rognan – 1987) a Norwegian singer, composer, songwriter and writer *

Ragnhild Furebotten Ragnhild Furebotten (born 10 March 1979 in Saltdal, Norway) is a Norwegian fiddler, folk musician and composer, and former member of the traditional folk band Majorstuen and present member and founder of Hekla Stålstrenga. Career Furebotte ...

(born 1979 in Saltdal) a Norwegian

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

r, folk musician and composer * Lena Kristin Ellingsen (born 1980 in Saltdal) a Norwegian actress IMDb Database
retrieved 27 August 2020

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 ye ...

Junkerdal National ParkPolarcircle center
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Nordland Valleys of Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway