Ankenes 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 1884 until 1974. It encompassed most of the present-day

Narvik Municipality () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

, surrounding of the town of Narvik which was once its own municipality. 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 Ankenes was the village of

Ankenesstrand Ankenesstranda or Ankenesstrand (sometimes simply called "Ankenes") is a village area in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village area is a western suburb of the town of Narvik and just east of the village of Håkvik. The vil ...

, situated along the west side of the

Beisfjorden ,Jacobsen, Alf R., & J. Basil Cowlishaw. 2016. ''Death at Dawn: Captain Warburton-Lee VC and the Battle of Narvik, April 1940''. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. , or is a fjord in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is ...

, where the Ankenes Church is located. Ankenes kirke - no-nb digifoto 20151009 00209 NB MIT FNR 05156

Ankenes - no-nb digifoto 20151009 00162 NB MIT FNR 05159

Prior to its dissolution on 1 January 1974, the municipality was the 31st largest by area out of the 444 municipalities in Norway. Ankenes Municipality was the 139th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 7,025. 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 15.7% over the previous 10-year period. Today, the name Ankenes is often used to refer to the suburban

area, just west of the centre of the town of Narvik. The

European route E6 European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...

highway is the main thoroughfare through Ankenesstrand and it follows the shoreline of the

Ofotfjorden The Ofotfjord (; ) is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. It is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, located about north of the Arctic Circle. The long Ofotfjord is Norway, Norway's 12th longest fjord and it is also the 18th deepest, with a maximum d ...

and

and it then crosses the fjord over the long Beisfjord Bridge where it then reaches the central part of the town of Narvik.

General information

The old Ofoten Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). Ofoten Municipality included all of the land surrounding the inner part of the

, including the Ankenes area. On 1 January 1884, Ofoten Municipality was dissolved and split into two municipalities: Ankenes Municipality (population: 1,734) and Evindnæs Municipality (population: 2,397). In 1901, the

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

(population: 3,705) received town status as a

kjøpstad A (historically ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'', from ) is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" in Denmark–Norway for several hundred years. Kjøpstads were places of trade and exporting materials (e.g. timber, flour, iron ...

. Soon after, on 1 January 1902, the new town of Narvik was separated from Ankenes Municipality to form a separate municipality of its own. The split left Ankenes Municipality with a population of 3,023. On 1 January 1974, Ankenes Municipality was merged with the town of Narvik to form a new, larger

. Prior to the merger, Ankenes had 7,022 inhabitants and Narvik had 12,758.

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 '' Ankenes'' farm since the first Ankenes Church was built there. The first element is derived from the

diminutive form A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle som ...

of the old male name which is short for ''Arnkell''. 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 ...

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

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 Nordre Salten (

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 Storsteinsfjellet. The municipality was bordered by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to the east and south;

Ballangen Municipality Ballangen () is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1925 until its dissolution in 2020 when it became part of Narvik Municipality. The munic ...

and

Evenes Municipality or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bogen, ...

to the west; and Skånland Municipality,

Gratangen Municipality or is a municipality in Troms 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 35 ...

, and

Salangen Municipality Salangen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages ...

to the north.

Government

While it existed, Ankenes 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,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

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. During its existence, this 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 elected representatives, which in turn elected a

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 ...

Mayors

The

() of Ankenes was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: * 1884–1916: Bertheus Normann * 1917–1922: Peter Leiros ( V) * 1923–1928: Hans Peder Seinæs * 1929–1934: Peter Leiros ( V) * 1935–1940: Magnus Edvardsen ( Ap) * 1941–1945: Harder Kristiansen ( NS) * 1945–1945: Magnus Edvardsen ( Ap) * 1946–1967: Ole Andreassen ( Ap) * 1967-1971: Henning Eidissen ( Ap) * 1972–1973: Edgar Sneve ( Ap)

Municipal council

The

of Ankenes was made up of 25 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 ...

Notable people

* Gunnar Emil Garfors (1900–1979), a Norwegian poet * Ola Teigen (1937–1970), a politician for the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

Toralv Kollin Markussen Toralv Kollin Markussen (23 February 1895 – 17 December 1973) was a Norwegian politician for the Communist Party. Biography Toralv Kollin Markussen was born in Ankenes Municipality on 23 February 1895. He held various positions in Narvik ci ...

(1895–1973), a politician for the

Norwegian Communist Party The Communist Party of Norway (, NKP) is a communist party in Norway. The NKP was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported the Soviet government while oppos ...

References

{{Authority control Narvik Former municipalities of Norway 1884 establishments in Norway 1974 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1884 Populated places disestablished in 1974