Flakstad is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. It is part of the traditional district of the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

group

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

. 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 the municipality is the village of Ramberg. Other villages in the municipality include Fredvang, Napp, Nusfjord,

Sund Sund may refer to: Places In northern Europe, there are more than a hundred straits named ''Sund'', see: Sound (geography). *Sund, Åland, a municipality in Finland * Sund, Norway, a former municipality in Vestland county, Norway * Sund, Flakstad, ...

, and Vareid. Ramberg La Plage

The municipality is located in the

Lofoten Islands Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. There are two towns, ...

and comprises the entire island of

Flakstadøya Flakstadøya is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The entire island lies within Flakstad Municipality with the Vestfjorden on the east side of the island and the Norwegian Sea on the west side of the island. Geog ...

and the northern part of the island of

Moskenesøya Moskenesøya () is an island at the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is shared between Moskenes Municipality and Flakstad Municipality. The tidal whirlpool system known as Moskstraumen, one of th ...

, plus many smaller islets surrounding the main islands. The

European route E10 European route E10 is the second shortest Class A road which is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Å, Norway, and ends in Luleå, Sweden. The road is about in length. The Norwegian part of the road is also named Kong Ol ...

highway runs across the whole municipality. The municipality is the 312th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Flakstad is the 318th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,229. 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 ...

is and its population has decreased by 10.2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Flakstad 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). On 1 July 1916, the southern part of the municipality (population: 1,306) was separated to form the new

Moskenes Municipality Moskenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality comprises the southern part of the island of Moskenesøya in the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Reine. O ...

. This left Flakstad with 1,667 residents. 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, Flakstad Municipality (population: 2,067) was merged into the neighboring

(population: 2,001), creating a new, larger Moskenes Municipality. This merger, however, only lasted for twelve years. On 1 January 1976, the merger was undone with Moskenes Municipality (population: 1,705) and Flakstad Municipality (population: 2,007) becoming separate municipalities once again.

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 ''

Flakstad Flakstad may refer to: Places *Flakstad Municipality, a municipality in the Lofoten district of Nordland county, Norway *Flakstad (village), a small village within Flakstad Municipality in the Lofoten district of Nordland county, Norway *Flakstad C ...

'' farm ( or ) since the first

Flakstad Church Flakstad Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Flakstad Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Flakstad. It is the church for the Flakstad parish which is part of the Lofoten prosti (deanery) i ...

was built there. The first element of the name is uncertain. It may come from the word which may have meant "reckless". Another option is that it derived from the word which meant "rock wall", possibly referring to the large cliff near the church site. The last element is the

plural form In many languages, a plural (sometimes abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This ...

of which means "homestead", "abode", or "farm".

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 14 July 1989. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

, a mooring bollard

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to ...

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

which is a type of fixed device used for tying a

hawser Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick rope used in Mooring (watercraft), mooring or towing a ship. A hawser is not waterproof, as is a Nautical cable, cable. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the wikt: ...

line from a boat to the dock. The mooring bollard has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea and the mooring bollard was chosen to represent the municipality's seafaring history. The arms were designed by Jorunn Thomassen and Jarle Henriksen.

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 ...

has one parish () within Flakstad Municipality. It is part of the

Lofoten prosti Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. There are two towns, ...

(

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 ...

Economy

The municipality's economy is dominated by

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. The fishing fleet mainly consists of small boats. There are also several

fish farm Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of aq ...

in Flakstad. There is some

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

in Flakstad, but mostly cattle and sheep farming rather than growing crops.

Government

Flakstad Municipality is 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 is 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 ...

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 is under the jurisdiction of the

Salten og Lofoten District Court Salten is a traditional district in Nordland county, Norway. It includes the municipalities of Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen, and Hamarøy. Salten covers an area of about and has a population (2016) of about 73 ...

and 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 Flakstad is made up of 11 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and 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 Flakstad is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position (incomplete list): *''(1964-1975: None - merged with

)'' *1975-1983: Gunnar Rørtveit ( LL/ Ap)) *1983-1986: Carl Leon Johnsen ( LL) *1986-1987:

Alf Ivar Samuelsen Alf Ivar Samuelsen (28 February 1942 – 16 September 2014) was a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He was born in Flakstad Municipality as a son of smallholder and fisher Ingleiv Samuelsen (1908–1964) and housewife Amy Pedersen (1906� ...

( Ap) *1987-1991: Jan Rigan ( Ap) *1991-1999: Willy Arntzen ( LL) *1999-2003: Erling Sigurd Sandnes ( LL) *2003-2005:

( Ap) *2005-2007: Ann-Helen Fjeldstad Jusnes ( Ap) *2007-2015: Stein Iversen ( Sp) *2015-2019: Hans Fredrik Sørdal ( Ap) *2019–2023: Trond Kroken ( Sp) *2023–present: Einar Benjaminsen ( LL)

Geography

Located near the southern end of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

, Flakstad comprises all of the island of

and the northern part of the island of

. The islands are connected by the Fredvang Bridges and the

Kåkern Bridge The Kåkern Bridge () is a cantilever road bridge that crosses the Kåkernsundet strait between the islands of Flakstadøya and Moskenesøya in Flakstad Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The long Kåkern Bridge was opened in 2002. The Kå ...

. The large lake

Solbjørnvatnet Solbjørnvatnet is a lake in Flakstad Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The lake is located on the northern part of the island of Moskenesøya, less than west of the European route E10 highway. The mountain Klokktinden lies on the south ...

lies on the northern part of Moskenesøya in Flakstad. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Stjerntinden.

Vestvågøy Municipality Vestvågøy 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 Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of t ...

lies to the northeast on the island of

Vestvågøya Vestvågøya (or less-commonly: ''Vest-Vågøy'') is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located within Vestvågøy Municipality. The island lies between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya to t ...

, the

Vestfjorden Vestfjorden (; sometimes shortened to ''Vestfjord'' in English) is a long fjord or oceanic sea in Nordland county, Norway. The name literally means "the west fjord", although it is called a fjord, it could best be described as a firth or an op ...

lies to the southeast, the

lies to the southwest on the island of

, and the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

lies to the northwest.

Climate

Notable people

* Fredrik Arentz Krog (1844 in Flakstad – 1923), a Norwegian barrister *

Gina Krog Jørgine Anna Sverdrup "Gina" Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, writer and editor, and a major figure in liberal feminism in Scandinavia. She played a central role in the Norwegian l ...

(1847 in Flakstad – 1916), a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, and editor *

Birger Eriksen Birger Kristian Eriksen (17 November 1875 – 16 July 1958) was a Norway, Norwegian military officer (with the rank of Military ranks and insignia of Norway, Oberst) who was instrumental in stopping the first wave of ''Gruppe 5'' of the Germ ...

(1875 in Flakstad – 1958), a Norwegian officer and commander of

Oscarsborg Fortress Oscarsborg Fortress () is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the town of Drøbak in Akershus County, Norway. The best known part is situated on two small islets: ''Nordre Kaholmen'' and ''Søndre Kaholmen''. In addition, the main art ...

in WWII * Sigurd Lund Hamran (1902 in Flakstad – 1977), a Norwegian politician, Mayor, and deputy Mayor of Moskenes Municipality between 1937 & 1961 *

(1942 in Flakstad – 2014), a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Flakstad Municipality

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

{{authority control Lofoten Municipalities of Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway 1976 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 1964 Populated places established in 1976