Gratangen

Gratangen ( sme, Rivttága suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Central Hålogaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årstein.

The municipality is the 261st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gratangen is the 327th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,070. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 5.8% over the previous 10-year period.

The largest settlement in the municipality is Årstein, which is located approximately north of the town of Narvik and east of the town of Harstad. Other villages in Gratangen include Elvenes, Fjordbotn, and Hilleshamn. The European route E6 highway runs through the southeastern part of the municipality.

General information

The municipality of Gratangen was established on 1 July 1926 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ibestad. The initial population of Gratangen was 1,967. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.

Name

The municipality is named after the Gratangen fjord (Old Norse: ''Grjótangr''). The first element is ''grjót'' which means "stone" and the last element is ''angr'' which means "fjord".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 15 June 1990. The arms are blue with a gray or white chevron to represent the mountains surrounding the Gratangen fjord.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within the municipality of Gratangen. It is part of the Trondenes prosti ( deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

History

Gratangen was the site of the Battle of Gratangen, one of the first battles between the German 3rd Mountain Division under Eduard Dietl and the Norwegian 6th Division under General Carl Gustav Fleischer after the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.

Geography

The municipality encompasses the land on both sides of the Gratangen and southeast of the Astafjorden. The municipality borders Skånland to the west, Ibestad (across the Astafjorden) to the north, Lavangen to the east, and Narvik (in Nordland county) to the south.

The municipality is very mountainous, with only one third of the land being below the tree line of above sea level. Most of the livable land is a narrow area along both sides of the fjord, several side valleys that branch away from the fjord, plus the Fjordbotn area at the head of the fjord.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Gratangen, 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 Gratangen is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Gratangen (incomplete list):
*2019–present: Anita Karlsen ( Sp)
*2015-2019: Eva Ottesen ( Ap)

References

External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
*

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022

Municipalities of Troms og Finnmark
Populated places of Arctic Norway
1926 establishments in Norway