Sandnessjøen (historically named Stamnes) is a former municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county,

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 ...

. The municipality existed from 1899 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality encompassed the northern part of the island of Alsta in what is now Alstahaug Municipality. Originally, it (briefly) also included all of what is now Leirfjord Municipality as well. 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 was the town of

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s, but it did not receive town status until 1999. Sandnessjøen is ...

. Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 473rd largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Sandnessjøen Municipality was the 254th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 3,753. 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 ...

was and its population had increased by 44.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of ''Stamnes'' was established on 1 July 1899 when the old Alstahaug Municipality was divided into two. Originally, it consisted of the northern part of the island of

Alsta Alsta is an island in Alstahaug Municipality and Leirfjord Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island is surrounded by the Vefsnfjorden to the east, the Leirfjorden to the north, and the Alstenfjorden to the south and west. The eastern p ...

and the mainland area around the

Leirfjorden Leirfjorden is a fjord in Leirfjord Municipality and Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The long fjord is located east of the town of Sandnessjøen, between the mainland and the island of Alsta. There is a short strait that co ...

. Initially, Stamnes Municipality had 2,673 residents. On 1 July 1915, the mainland district of Stamnes Municipality (population: 2,003) was separated to form the new Leirfjord Municipality. This left Stamnes Municipality with 1,059 residents. In 1948, Stamnes Municipality was renamed Sandnessjøen Municipality, after

, the main town in the small municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1965, Sandnessjøen Municipality (population: 3,856) was merged with most of Alstahaug Municipality (population: 970) and most of

Tjøtta Municipality Tjøtta is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1862 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality was centered around the Tjøtta (island), island of Tjøtta ...

(population: 1,477) to form a new, larger Alstahaug Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old '' Stamnes'' farm () since the first

Stamnes Church Stamnes Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vaksdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stamneshella. It is the church for the Stamnes parish which is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti ( ...

was built there. The first element is which is the word for the "

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

/stem of a ship". The last element is which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

". Thus it is referring to the large mast-like peninsula on which the village of Stamnes was located. On 1 July 1948, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to ''Sandnessjøen'', after the main town in the municipality. The town was named after the old ''Sandnes'' farm () since the town grew up on the grounds of the old farm. The first element is which means "

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

". The second element is which means "

". The last element (''-sjøen'') was added on after the name of the farm. This word which means "the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

", thus it is the "sandy peninsula along the sea".

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 ...

had one parish () within Sandnessjøen Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Alstahaug

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the Nord-Helgeland 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 Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the Bodø (town), town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the sea ...

Geography

The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Botnkrona, part of the

De syv søstre or is a mountain range on the island of Alsten in Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The mountain range consists of seven peaks on the southeastern half of the island. The mountains are (listed from northeast to southwest): ...

on the border with Alstahaug Municipality.

Government

While it existed, Sandnessjøen Municipality was 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 was 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 ...

was

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 was under the jurisdiction of the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () 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 well as the island territor ...

Municipal council

The

of Sandnessjøen was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the 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 Sandnessjøen was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: *1899-1910: M. Fiskenæs *1911-1916: Einar Barth-Heyerdahl *1916-1919: Kristian Forfang *1919-1923: Albert Larssen *1923-1926: John Tønnessen *1926-1934: Marius Sørensen *1935-1941: Olaf Rokseth *1941-1943: Eilif Spjeldnes *1943-1945: Thorvald O. Wiig *1945-1945: R. Bakke *1946-1955: Harry Jørgensen ( Ap) *1955-1963: Ivar Refseth ( Ap) *1963-1964: Håkon Hansen ( Ap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandnessjoen Municipality Alstahaug Former municipalities of Norway 1899 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1899 Populated places disestablished in 1965