Selbu 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' ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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 ...

. 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

Mebonden Mebonden is the administrative centre of Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located at the eastern end of the lake Selbusjøen at the mouth of the Nea River. The villages of Vikvarvet, Hyttbakken, Innbygda, Trøndelag, Innbyg ...

. Other villages in Selbu include

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

Fossan Fossan is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located about north of the municipal center of Mebonden Mebonden is the administrative centre of Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located at ...

Hyttbakken Hyttbakken is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located along the Nea River, about east of the municipal center of Mebonden and about northwest of the village of Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the ...

Innbygda Innbygda is the administrative centre of Trysil Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the river Trysilelva, about north of the village of Nybergsund. Trysil Church is located in the centre of the village. The vil ...

Selbustrand Selbustrand is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located about across the lake Selbusjøen from the municipal center of Mebonden. The village of Fossan Fossan is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag ...

Trøa Trøa is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located along the eastern end of the lake Selbusjøen, just north of the village of Innbygda, Trøndelag, Innbygda, about north of the municipal center of Mebonden, and ...

Tømra Tømra is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the northeast shore of the lake Selbusjøen, approximately north of the municipal center of Mebonden. The village of Fossan Fossan is a village in Selbu ...

, and

Vikvarvet Vikvarvet is a village in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the lake Selbusjøen, about southwest of the municipal center of Mebonden Mebonden is the administrative centre of Selbu Munic ...

. The municipality is the 86th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Selbu is the 200th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,216. 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 increased by 4.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

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 ...

of Selbu was established as a municipality 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 January 1901, the eastern part of the municipality was separated to form the new

Tydal Municipality Tydal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Neadalen/ Tydalen valley. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. Other villages include Østby, Græsli, Aungrenda, and Stugudalen. There ...

. This left Selbu Municipality with 4,607 inhabitants. The borders of Selbu have not changed since that date. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...

county to the new

county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named "Selbu" () after a nearby lake since the first

Selbu Church Selbu Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Mebonden. It is one of the churches for the Selbu parish which is part of the Stjørdal prosti (deane ...

was built near its southeastern shore. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the old name of the lake

Selbusjøen Selbusjøen is the 17th largest lake in Norway. It is located in Trøndelag county, primarily in Selbu Municipality, although the western end of it lies in the neighboring Trondheim Municipality. The lake is the largest lake in the southern par ...

(). The old name of the lake is probably derived from the word which means " harness" since the lake is long and narrow. The last element is which means "rural district".

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 31 May 1991. 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 ''"

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 ...

, 24 lozenges

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

in three rosettes two over one"'' (). This means the arms have a

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) 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 ...

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 ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. 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 three

selburose In Norwegian knitting, a ''selburose'' () is a knitted rose pattern in the shape of a regular octagram. It is traditionally used for winter clothing such as the Selbu mitten (''selbuvott'') and sweaters ('' lusekofte, lopapeysa'' and '' mari ...

s made out of 8 rhombus shapes each. The

design is a typical pattern used in the local lusekofte (traditional Norwegian sweaters) and other

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

len garments. Home knitting has been a long tradition in the municipality. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

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 Selbu Municipality. It is part of the Stjørdal 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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Economy

Traditionally, Selbu has been an

agricultural 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 f ...

and forest managing community. The area is well known for its special knitting techniques such as the

Selburose In Norwegian knitting, a ''selburose'' () is a knitted rose pattern in the shape of a regular octagram. It is traditionally used for winter clothing such as the Selbu mitten (''selbuvott'') and sweaters ('' lusekofte, lopapeysa'' and '' mari ...

. The last decades have led to efforts in business such as high

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, and

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

. The newspaper ''

Selbyggen ''Selbyggen'' () is a local Norwegian newspaper covering Selbu Municipality and Tydal Municipality in Trøndelag county. The newspaper has been published since June 9, 1889, when it was started by the brothers John and Ola Aas, with a hiatus from 1 ...

'' has been published in Selbu since 1889.

Government

Selbu 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

Trøndelag District Court Trøndelag District Court () is a district court located in Trøndelag county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Brekstad, Namsos, Steinkjer, and Trondheim. The court is subordinate to the Frostating C ...

and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

() of Selbu is made up of 25 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 Selbu 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: *1838–1845: Hans E. Sandborg *1845–1847: Ole I. Sesseng *1848–1855: Hans Henrik Emil Tybring *1856–1873: Ingebrigt Norbye *1873-1873: Agathon Bartholomæus Hansteen *1874–1893: Ingebrigt Flønæs ( H) *1894–1898: John Klegseth ( V) *1899–1916: Ole O. Henmo ( V) *1917–1922: Peder Johannes Norbye ( V) *1923–1925: Ole H. Kjøsnes ( Ap) *1926–1928: Arnt Kvello ( Bp) *1929–1940: Ole H. Kjøsnes ( Ap) *1941-1941: P.P. Evjen ( Bp) *1941–1945: Martin Hofsli ( NS) *1945–1963: Johan Berge ( Ap) *1964–1975: Olav N. Overvik ( Ap) *1976–1983: Halvard Kulseth ( Sp) *1984–1987: Albert Uglem ( Ap) *1988–1995: Helga Renå ( Ap) *1995–1999: Torbjørn Olsen ( Ap) *1999–2003: Kjell Mebust ( KrF) *2003–2007: Karin Galaaen ( Sp) *2007–2015:

Inga Balstad Inga Johanne Balstad (born 25 January 1952 in Selbu Municipality) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament from Sør-Trøndelag county during the terms 1993–1997 and 19 ...

( Ap) *2015–present: Ole Morten Balstad ( Ap)

Geography

Selbu borders eight municipalities:

Malvik Municipality Malvik is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Trondheim Region. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Hommelvik. Other villages in Malvik i ...

, and

Stjørdal Municipality () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

are to the north;

Meråker Municipality Meråker is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda which is about west of Storlien in Sweden and east of the town of Stjø ...

and

are to the east;

Holtålen Municipality Holtålen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is located in the Ålen area o ...

, and

Midtre Gauldal Municipality Midtre Gauldal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Støren. ...

are to the south; and

Melhus Municipality Melhus is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Melhus (village), village o ...

and

Trondheim Municipality Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populou ...

are to the west. The largest lake in Selbu is

with an area of about . It is located above sea level. Another lake in the municipality is

Sørungen Sørungen is a lake that is located in the Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake is located about south of the village of Vikvarvet. It is about west of the village of Flora, and about northeast of the lake Samsjøen in ...

. The highest mountain in Selbu is the tall mountain

Fongen or is a mountain in Trøndelag county, Norway. The mountain sits along the tripoint border of Selbu Municipality, Tydal Municipality, and Meråker Municipality. The summit is located inside the Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park. The nearest ...

, located inside

Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park () is a national park in Trøndelag county, Norway. The park is located in the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Selbu Municipality, Selbu, Tydal Municipality, Tydal, Meråker Municipality, ...

, forming the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

border with Meråker, Tydal, and Selbu municipalities. The

Nea River , , or is an long river in Norway and Sweden. The long river runs through Berg Municipality and Åre Municipality in Jämtland county (in Sweden) and then Tydal Municipality and Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county (in Norway). The river ...

and Rotla River both flow through the municipality. The municipality covers a total of which consists of:

Climate

Located inland in the Trøndelag region at relatively low

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

, Selbu has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(Dfb), but with a relatively mild winter for this climate type, as the sea is not that far away. The all-time low was recorded Februar 2010 and January record low is also from 2010, all the other record lows are from 1983 or older. The all-time high is from June 2020. Recent decades have tended to be warmer than earlier decades; 8 of the 12 record highs are from after 2010.

Transportation

The main road through Selbu is Norwegian County Road 705 that runs between

, Selbu Municipality, and

. Selbu is located near important destinations:

Notable people

* Marit Guldsetbrua Emstad (1841 in Selbu – 1929), an artist who created the

knitting design * Belle Gunness (1859 in Selbu – ca.1908), a Norwegian-American serial killer who was active in Illinois and Indiana between 1884 and 1908; she was thought to have killed at least fourteen people *

Peder Morset Peder Morset (4 April 1887 – 19 May 1943) was a Norwegian teacher and resistance member. Born in Selbu Municipality in Sør-Trøndelag, Søndre Trondhjem county, Norway, he was the son of Ole Henriksen Morset (1864–1935) and Ingborg Bernt ...

(1887 in Selbu – 1943), a teacher and

Norwegian resistance member The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governme ...

Per Almaas Per Almaas (8 March 1898 – 25 July 1991) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Selbu Municipality. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Sør-Trøndelag in 1950, but was not re-elected in 1954. Almaas w ...

(1898 in Selbu – 1991), a teacher and politician and Mayor of Strinda before and after WWII *

(born 1952 in Selbu), a Norwegian politician who was Mayor of Selbu in 2007 * Kjersti Synneva Moen (born 1995), a cartoonist and illustrator

Sport

Hans Olav Sørensen Hans Olav Sørensen (born 16 November 1942, in Selbu Municipality) is a Norwegian former ski jumper who competed from 1963 to 1966. He finished eighth in the individual normal hill event at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Sørensen's best ...

(born 1942 in Selbu), a Norwegian former ski jumper who competed at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

* Brit Stav (born 1944 in Selbu), a Norwegian archer who competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Malin Aune Malin Larsen Aune (born 4 March 1995) is a Norwegian handball player for Odense Håndbold and the Norway women's national handball team, Norwegian national team. In the 2024-25 Damehåndboldligaen, 2024-25 season, she achieved a perfect regular ...

(born 1995 in Selbu), a handball player for the

Norway women's national handball team The Norway women's national handball team represents Norway at international handball competitions, and is governed by the Norges Håndballforbund (NHF). As of December 2024, Norway has been in 27 finals an ...

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 ...

Aerial photography from Selbu
* Selbuvott {{authority control Municipalities of Trøndelag 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838