Tjøtta 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 1862 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality was centered around the island of Tjøtta plus the mainland to the east and south as well as over 3000 islands,

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s, and

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

to the west. 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 Tjøtta was the village of Tjøtta, located on the island of Tjøtta, where the

Tjøtta Church Tjøtta Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Tjøtta on the island of Tjøtta. It is the main church for the Tjøtta parish which is part of ...

is located. Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 262nd largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Tjøtta Municipality was the 423rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,747. 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 decreased by 21% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Tjøtta was established in 1862 when it was separated from

Alstahaug Municipality Alstahaug is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Some of the villages in Alstahaug include Søvika and Tjøtta. Most resi ...

. Initially, Tjøtta Municipality had a population of 2,781. On 1 July 1917, the southeastern district of Tjøtta Municipality (population: 1,097) was separated to become the new

Vevelstad Municipality Vevelstad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of For ...

, leaving Tjøtta with 2,287 inhabitants. On 1 July 1920 the Giskåen farm with 10 inhabitants was transferred to Vevelstad 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 1964, the part of Tjøtta Municipality located on the eastern 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 ...

(population: 180) was incorporated into

Leirfjord Municipality Leirfjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lel ...

. On 1 January 1965, the Skogsholmen island area in western Tjøtta (population: 196) was incorporated into

Vega Municipality Vega is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gladstad. Other villages include Holand and Ylvingen. The municipality comprises ...

. The rest of Tjøtta Municipality (population: 1,477) was merged with most of

(population: 920) and 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 ...

(population: 3,856) to form a new, larger

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 '' Tjøtta'' farm () since the first

was built there. The name of the farm (and the island on which it is located) comes from the word which is a noun describing the "upper part of a

thigh In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissu ...

". The name was likely used to refer to the shape of the island.

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 Tjøtta Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Tjøtta

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 Valtinden, on the border with

Vefsn Municipality Vefsn () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns a ...

Government

While it existed, Tjøtta 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 Tjøtta was made up of 17 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 Tjøtta was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position (incomplete list): *1889-1902: J.M.G. Hansen *1902-1920: Ole E. Paasche *1920-1922: J.M.G. Hansen *1923-1926: Ole E. Paasche *1926-1940: Johan A. Myklebost *1940-1941: J.B. Jakobsen *1941-1943: Leiv Eikeland *1943-1944: Jørgen Bang *1945-1945: Olav Andreassen *1945-1947: Petter Olav Johnsen Liland ( Ap) *1947-1951: Olav Andreassen *1951-1955: Petter Olav Johnsen Liland ( Ap) *1955-1959: Johan Arnt Myklebost *1959-1959: Andreas Lisøy *1959-1963: Erling Flokkmann *1963-1965: Petter Olav Johnsen Liland ( Ap)

Media gallery

Tjøtta.jpg, Tjøtta is located on ''Strandflaten'' lowland near the sea Tjøtta gard.jpg, ''Tjøtta gard'', the old Tjøtta farm now the site of a guesthouse Tjotta kyrkje.JPG, ''Tjøtta kyrkje'',

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tjotta Municipality Alstahaug Former municipalities of Norway 1862 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1862 Populated places disestablished in 1965