Meråker is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is part of the Stjørdalen

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda which is about west of Storlien in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and east of the town of Stjørdalshalsen in neighboring Stjørdal Municipality. Other villages in the municipality include Gudåa,

Kopperå Kopperå is a village in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village lies about east of the municipal center of Midtbygda, about north of the village of Stordalsvollen, and about west of the Swedish border. The Meråker ...

, and

Stordalsvollen Stordalsvollen (also: ''Stordalen'' or ''Stordal'') is a small village area in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian ...

. The municipality is the 80th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Meråker is the 259th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,454. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is and its population has decreased by 3.9% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality markets itself as a recreational area. The main areas of employment are in

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The municipality is noted for its characteristic

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

General information

The municipality of Meråker was established on 1 January 1874 when the old Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality was divided into two:

Hegra Municipality Hegra is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1874 until its dissolution in 1962. The municipality was located in the Stjørdalen valley. It enc ...

(population: 3,409) in the east and Meråker Municipality (population: 1,861) in the west. The municipal borders have not changed since then. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

county to the new

county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the old ''Meråker'' farm (spelled "Mørakre" around 1430) since the first

Meråker Church Meråker Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located just northwest of the village of Midtbygda. It is one of the three churches in the Meråker parish which is part o ...

was built there. The meaning of the first element is uncertain (maybe which means "

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

" or which means "

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

" or "

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

"). The last element is which means "

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

" or "

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Meraker''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Meraaker''. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Meraaker'' with the

digraph Digraph, often misspelled as diagraph, may refer to: * Digraph (orthography), a pair of characters used together to represent a single sound, such as "nq" in Hmong RPA * Ligature (writing), the joining of two letters as a single glyph, such as " ...

" aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Meråker'', using the letter å was instead.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 28 September 1990. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, a cart

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a red

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a mining cart. The mining cart has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to symbolize the fact that

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

has traditionally played a major role in the area and has been of great economic importance for Meråker. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has one parish () within Meråker Municipality. It is part of the Stjørdal prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

History

Meråker Smelter

In 1898, a

carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of th ...

factory was opened at

, later this factor was rebuilt as a

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

smelter. The

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

was in operation until June 2006. Its main product was microsilica which is used as an additive to

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

Geography

Meråker is a landlocked municipality in the central part of

county. To the north is

Verdal Municipality Verdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

, to the west is Stjørdal Municipality, to the south is

Selbu Municipality Selbu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Trøndelag, Flora, Fossan ...

and

Tydal Municipality Tydal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Neadalen/ Tydalen valley. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. Other villages include Østby, Græsli, Aungrenda, and Stugudalen. There ...

, and to the east is

Åre Municipality Åre Municipality (, ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Jämtland County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Järpen. The present municipality was formed in 1974 through the amalgamation of "old" Åre M ...

. There are three major lakes in Meråker:

Feren Feren is a lake in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. A small part in the northwestern corner of the lake extends into the municipalities of Stjørdal, Levanger, and Verdal at the outlet into the river Forra. The lake lies abou ...

Fjergen Fjergen is a lake in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake has a hydropower dam on the southern end which flows out into the Kåpperåa river which is part of the Stjørdalselva river system. There is about of water stor ...

, and

Funnsjøen Funnsjøen is a lake in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake flows into the Funna river, a part of the Stjørdalselva river system. The lake has a hydroelectricity, hydropower dam at the southern end of the lake. There is ...

. The river

Stjørdalselva Stjørdalselva () is a long river that reaches from near the Norwegian– Swedish border down the Stjørdalen valley through Meråker Municipality and Stjørdal Municipality before entering the Trondheimsfjord. The mouth is located on the sout ...

runs through the municipality towards the

Trondheimsfjord The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's List of Norwegian fjords, third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from Ørl ...

. The river Rotla begins in the southern part of Meråker. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain

Fongen or is a mountain in Trøndelag county, Norway. The mountain sits along the tripoint border of Selbu Municipality, Tydal Municipality, and Meråker Municipality. The summit is located inside the Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park. The nearest ...

, a

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

on the border of Meråker Municipality,

, and

Government

Meråker Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the

Trøndelag District Court Trøndelag District Court () is a district court located in Trøndelag county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Brekstad, Namsos, Steinkjer, and Trondheim. The court is subordinate to the Frostating C ...

and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

() of Meråker is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Meråker is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: *1874–1877: Christian Erlandsen *1878–1885: John Johnsen *1886–1887: Iver Lie *1888–1893: Fredrik Rø ( V) *1894–1897: O. Hugdahl *1898–1907: Fredrik Rø ( V) *1908–1910: Carl Olaf Iversen ( H) *1911–1913: Olav Stubban ( Ap) *1914–1916: Ole E. Wollan ( Ap) *1917–1922: Peder J. Myrmo ( Ap) *1923–1925: Arne Bergsaas ( Ap) *1926–1937: Kristian Rothaug ( Ap) *1938–1939: Joar Eimhjellen ( Ap) *1939–1941: Alf Karlsen ( Ap) *1942-1942: Arild Solberg ( NS) *1943–1945: Alf Hembre ( NS) *1945–1966: Alf Karlsen ( Ap) *1967–1973: Johnny Stenberg ( Ap) *1973-1995: Svein Brækken ( Ap) *1995-2015:

Bård Langsåvold Bård Langsåvold (born 31 January 1952) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Nord-Trøndelag during the terms 2005–2009 and 2009–2013. He is also mayor ...

( Ap) *2015-2019: Kari Anita Furunes ( Sp) *2019–2023: Kjersti Kjenes ( LL) *2023-present: Kari Anita Furunes ( Sp)

Transportation

The

European route E14 European route E14 is a part of the International E-road network. It runs between Trondheim, Norway, and Sundsvall, Sweden. The road is long. The road follows the route Trondheim - Storlien – Östersund – Sundsvall. Just east of Trondheim, ...

highway runs east to west through the municipality connecting to

Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport (; ), more commonly known as Værnes, is an international airport serving Trondheim (city), Trondheim and the surrounding areas in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a village i ...

about to the west. The

Meråker Line The Meråker Line ( �meːroːkərˌbɑːnən is a railway line which runs through the district and valley of Stjørdalen in Trøndelag county, Norway. The line branches off from the Nordland Line at Hell Station and runs eastwards to the No ...

railway follows the E14 through the municipality also, with stops at

Kopperå Station Kopperå Station () is a railway station on the Meråker Line in the village of Kopperå in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The station was opened on 1 April 1899 as Kopperaasen. It was renamed Kopperåen in April 1924. It re ...

Meråker Station Meråker Station () is a railway station on the Meråker Line in the village of Midtbygda in Meråker Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The station was opened on 17 October 1881 as Meraker, and received the current name on 1 June 1919. ...

, and Gudå Station.

Media

The newspaper '' Meråkerposten'' has been published in Meråker since 1982.

Notable people

Anton Johnson Fridrichsen Anton Johnson Fridrichsen (4 January 1888 – 16 November 1953) was a Norwegian-born Swedish theologian. Biography He was born at Meråker Municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. He received his cand. theol. degree in 1911 and then studi ...

(1888 in Meråker – 1953), a Swedish theologian *

Helge Ingstad Helge Marcus Ingstad (30 December 1899 – 29 March 2001) was a Norwegian explorer. In 1960, after mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadow ...

(1899 in Meråker - 2001), an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, explorer, and

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

* Arne Braa Saatvedt (1922 in Meråker – 1945), a Norwegian police official and member of the

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

; executed in 1945 *

(born 1952), a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Meråker from 1995 to 2015 * Dag Lyseid (1954–2012), a footballer and politician and deputy Mayor of Meråker from 1999 to 2008 * Vebjørn Selbekk (born 1969), a newspaper editor and author who was brought up in Meråker

Sport

Magnar Lundemo Magnar Lundemo (4 March 1938 in Meråker – 7 January 1987 in Meråker) was a Norwegian cross-country skier and track and field athlete. As a skier he participated in two Olympic Games and placed fourth at the 1962 World Championships. In t ...

(1938 in Meråker - 1987), a cross country skier and track and field athlete who competed at the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Frode Estil Frode Estil (born 31 May 1972) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He lives in Meråker Municipality with his wife Grete whom he married in the summer of 2001. They have two sons, Bernhard, born in August 2002, and Konrad. Estil was clas ...

(born 1972), a retired cross country skier who lives in Meråker *

Kine Beate Bjørnås Kine Beate Bjørnås (born 12 May 1980) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who won gold at the 2005 . Personal life Bjørnås is from Meråker Municipality. As a youngster, Bjørnås travelled to Sør-Trøndelag for skiing, as there wer ...

(born 1980), a retired cross country skier *

Simen Raaen Sandmæl Simen Raaen Sandmæl (born 4 August 1990) is a former Norwegian footballer. Career Sandmæl started his career at Remyra as a junior, he then moved to Stjørdals-Blink in 2011. After two season in Stjørdals-Blink, he then moved to Levanger ...

(born 1990 in Meråker), a Norwegian footballer with over 130 club caps

Media gallery

Meråker, Norway - panoramio.jpg, Meråker, Norway Meråker smelteverk Kopperå 01.jpg, Meråker smelteverk Kopperå Juni 2011 041.jpg, Elven Kopperåa i Kopperå, Meråker Grønbergdammen 01.jpg, Grønbergdammen in Meråker

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meraaker Municipalities of Trøndelag 1874 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1874