Sømna Municipality

Sømna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative center of Sømna is the village of Vik i Helgeland. Other villages in the municipality include Dalbotn, Sund, Vennesund, and Berg.

The oldest boat remains ever found in Norway (''Haugvikbåten'' - 2,500 years old) was discovered in a bog in Sømna.

Sømna has some of the best agriculture in the region. Dairy and beef cows as well as grains are produced in Sømna. There is also a dairy in Berg that produces milk and cheese.

The municipality is the 301st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sømna is the 280th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,981. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 2.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of ''Vik'' was established on 1 January 1901 when it was separated from the large municipality of Brønnøy. The initial population of Vik was 2,731. In 1941 the municipality was renamed ''Sømna''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place. The following areas were merged to form a new, larger Brønnøy municipality.
*the town of Brønnøysund (population: 2,064)
*the municipality of Sømna (population: 2,347)
*the municipality of Brønnøy (population: 2,635)
*the municipality of Velfjord (population: 1,380)
*the part of Bindal municipality located Lande-Tosbotn area around the inner Bindalsfjorden (population: 296)

This merger was short-lived because on 1 January 1977, all of the old Sømna municipality (except the Hongsetbygda area) was removed from Brønnøy to become a separate municipality once again. There were 2,107 residents in the newly recreated Sømna municipality.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was probably ''Søfn''. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it is possibly derived from ''sveifa'' which means "wind" or "wave" or it could be derived from ''svefja'' meaning a "quiet sleep".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 14 June 1991. The arms show three combined silver leaves of clover ( trefoils) on a red background. The arms symbolize agriculture, culture, and prosperity combined.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within the municipality of Sømna. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography and climate

The municipality of Sømna is mostly made up of the southern part of a peninsula off the mainland of Norway and the surrounding islands. It borders Brønnøy to the north by land and Bindal to the south and east by sea, across the Bindalsfjorden.
Sømna consists mainly of a wide ''Strandflaten'' lowland (coastal brim), and is one of few municipalities in Northern Norway where the farmers still grow some grain.

Sømna has an oceanic climate with few temperature extremes, similar to Brønnøysund. However, Sømna has one national heat record: The warmest night ever recorded in Norway was July 29, 2019 at Sømna-Kvaløyfjellet (302 m) in Sømna with overnight low .

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sømna, 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 Brønnøy District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Sømna is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Sømna (incomplete list):
*2019–present: Hans Gunnar Holand ( Sp)
*2015-2019: Andrine Solli Oppegaard ( Ap)
*2015: Hans Gunnar Holand (Sp)
*2005-2015: Edmund Dahle (Sp)

Notable people

* August Nielsen (1877 in Vik at Sømna – 1956) a Norwegian architect
* Ludvig Enge (1878 in Vik i Helgeland – 1953) a Norwegian civil servant and politician
* Dag Skogheim (1928 in Sømna – 2015) a teacher, poet, novelist, short story writer, biographer and non-fiction writer

Gallery

Norwegian ferry - panoramio (2).jpg, Norwegian ferry
File:Berg i Helgeland.jpg, Berg i Helgeland
Vennesund Harbour 09 2014.JPG, Vennesund Harbour

References

External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Sømna kommune

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somna

Municipalities of Nordland
1901 establishments in Norway
1964 disestablishments in Norway
1977 establishments in Norway