Tranøy is a former municipality that was located in the old

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

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 country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The municipality is situated on the southern coast of the large island of Senja. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new

Senja Municipality Senja is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Berg, Lenvik, Torsken, and Tranøy were merged into one municipality. It is located in the traditional district of Hå ...

. The administrative centre was the village of Vangsvik in the eastern part of the municipality. Other important villages included Stonglandseidet, Skrollsvika, and Å. The nearly-abandoned island of Tranøya, with the 18th-century wooden Tranøy Church, used to be the centre of activities for the municipality. From Tranøybotn it is only a short walk to the

Ånderdalen National Park Ånderdalen National Park ( no, Ånderdalen nasjonalpark) is located on the large island of Senja in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The park lies within Senja Municipality. The park was established by royal decree on 6 February 1970 and it w ...

, with varied landscapes within a very limited area, including deep

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

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' ...

s. At the time of its dissolution as a municipality on 1 January 2020, the municipality was the 204th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Tranøy was also the 352nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,536. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

was and its population has decreased by 2.7% over the previous decade.

General information

The large municipality of Tranøy was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality included all the land surrounding the large Solbergfjorden. On 1 September 1886, the municipality was divided into three separate municipalities: Tranøy (population: 1,239) on the west, Dyrøy (population: 1,281) in the south, and

Sørreisa Sørreisa ( sme, Ráisavuona suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skøelva, and Smørsgård. The munic ...

(population: 1,361) in the east. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964 several changes took place: *The mainland areas of Tranøy (population: 382) were transferred to Dyrøy Municipality. *The Hellemo, Paulsrud, Johnsgård, and Stormo farms (population: 106) were transferred to

Lenvik Municipality Lenvik ( sme, Leaŋgáviika) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the isla ...

. *The parts of Bjarkøy Municipality on the island of Senja and Lemmingsvær islands (population: 480) were transferred to Tranøy Municipality. *The Rødsand area of Torsken Municipality (population: 160) was also transferred to Tranøy Municipality. In March 2017, the Parliament of Norway voted to merge the municipalities of

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

Torsken Torsken is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality that was located on the western coast of the large Senja (island), island of Senja in the old Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 u ...

Lenvik Lenvik ( sme, Leaŋgáviika) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the isla ...

, and Tranøy. The new municipality will encompass the whole island of Senja plus part of the mainland. The new municipality will be established on 1 January 2020 and it will be called ''

''.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

) is named after the small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

of Tranøya (

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 settlemen ...

: ''Tranøiar''), since the first Tranøy Church was built there. The first element is comes from ''trana'' which means " crane" and the last element is ''øy'' which means "island". Prior to 1909, the name was written ''Tranø''.

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 on 15 May 1987. The arms are silver or white with a black Atlantic halibut ''(Hippoglossus hippoglossus)'' in the center. The fish is a main species of local fish, which symbolizes the importance of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

for the local community. In addition to this, the fish played a major role in local

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

s, similar to the role of bears in land-based legends.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish ''(sokn)'' within the municipality of Tranøy. It is part of the

Senja prosti or is an island in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the Atlantic, and a mild ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Trom ...

Geography

The municipality of Tranøy is located on the southern end of the large island of Senja. The

Andfjorden Andfjorden is a fjord on the border of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark counties in Norway. It primarily flows between the large islands of Andøya and Senja. Grytøya and the smaller islands Bjarkøya and Krøttøya are located in the fjord. Th ...

, Vågsfjorden, and Solbergfjorden surround the municipality to the west, south, and southeast. The municipalities of

and

lie to the north and the municipality of

is to the east.

lies in the northwestern part of the municipality.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Tranøy, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

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 refere ...

and other social services,

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 of ...

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 Senja District Court and the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal ( no, Hålogaland lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as ...

Municipal council

The

of Tranøy was made up of 17 representatives that were 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 featur ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tranoy Senja Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020