Skånland Municipality

Skånland ( sme, Skánit) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Tjeldsund Municipality. It was part of the Central Hålogaland region, just southeast of the city of Harstad. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Evenskjer. Other villages included Grovfjord, Renså, Sandstrand, and Tovik.

The Tjeldsund Bridge in Skånland connects the island of Hinnøya (the largest coastal island in Norway) to the Norwegian mainland.

At the time of its dissolution as a municipality on 1 January 2020, the municipality was the 210th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Skånland was also the 265th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,994. The municipality's population density was and its population has increased by 4.6% over the previous decade.

General information

Skånland was established on 1 July 1926 when the large municipality of Trondenes was divided into three municipalities: Sandtorg (population: 4,224) in the southwest, Skånland (population: 2,443) in the southeast, and Trondenes (population: 3,429) in the north. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipality of Astafjord (population: 1,120) was merged into Skånland. On the same date, the part of Skånland on the island of Rolla (population: 143) was transferred to neighboring Ibestad Municipality.

The municipalities of Skånland and Tjeldsund voted to merge on 1 January 2020 to form a new, larger municipality of Tjeldsund.

Name

The municipality, and the parish, is named after the old ''Skånland'' farm ( Old Norse: ''Skánøyjarland''), since the first Skånland Church was built there (in 1870). The first element is the genitive case of an old name ''Skánøy'' (but the meaning of this is uncertain) and the last element is ''land'' which means " land" or " farm". The name might be of Sami origin, meaning "small mountains" (''skánit'').

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is from modern times (1988). They show a black auger on a gold background. This was chosen since the production of augers, and their use in construction of boats, has long roots in the municipality.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes ''(sokn)'' within the municipality of Skånland. It is part of the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Economy

Agriculture is important in Skånland, and there are also many people working in Harstad or at the Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes.

Geography

The municipality includes the western and northern part of the Ofoten peninsula, which is bordered by Ofotfjord in the south, Tjeldsundet in the west, and the Astafjorden and Vågsfjorden in the north. Neighbouring municipalities are Evenes to the south, Narvik in the southeast, Tjeldsund in Nordland to the southwest. Harstad in the northwest, across the Tjeldsundet, and Gratangen in the northeast, are located in Troms county. Evenskjer, located in the lowland bordering the Tjeldsundet strait, is the largest village. In the northern part is the smaller village of Grov. Other villages are Renså, Tovik and Sandstrand.

The largest lake is Skoddebergvatnet, and the highest mountain is Skittendalstinden at in the mountainous center of the peninsula. There are calcareous pine forests near Skoddebergvatnet. The lake Niingsvatnet is located on the border with Evenes.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Skånland, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, 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 Trondenes District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Skånland was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

See also

*List of former municipalities of Norway

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skaanland

Tjeldsund
Former municipalities of Norway
1926 establishments in Norway
2020 disestablishments in Norway
Populated places disestablished in 2020