Steigen () 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

Salten 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 ...

. 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

Leinesfjorden Leinesfjorden or Myklebostad is the administrative centre of Steigen Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located about west of the village of Nordfold along the Leinesfjorden, the fjord after which the village is named. T ...

. Other villages include Leirvikbogen, Leines, Nordfold, Nordskot, and Sørskot. Engeløy Airport, Grådussan is located in the northern part of the municipality.

Måløy–Skarholmen Lighthouse Måløy–Skarholmen Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse in Steigen Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the upper Vestfjorden, the broad sound between the mainland and the Lofoten Islands. It is loca ...

is located in 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 ...

in the western part of the municipality. The only road access to the municipality is via the Steigen Tunnel. The municipality is the 114th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Steigen is the 245th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,672. 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 3.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Steigen 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). The southern part of Steigen Municipality was separated on 1 September 1900 to form the new Ledingen Municipality. This left 2,216 residents in Steigen 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, a major municipal merger took place. A new Steigen Municipality was created by the merging the following areas: *all of Steigen Municipality (population: 1,829) *all of Leiranger Municipality (population: 1,397) *most of Nordfold Municipality except the

Mørsvikbotn or is a small village located in the north part of Sørfold Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village sits at the end of the Mørsvikfjorden arm of the Nordfolda fjord. The European route E6 highway passes through the village. The la ...

area (population: 1,212) *the small ''Brennsund'' area of

Kjerringøy Municipality Kjerringøy is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1906 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the coastal and island areas around the entranc ...

(population: 30) *the part of

Hamarøy 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 Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppeid ...

that was south of the Sagfjorden and between the lake Storvatnet and the Veggfjellan mountain area (population: 77) Prior to the merger, the population of Steigen Municipality was 1,843, and after the merger, the new municipality had 4,545 residents.

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 ''Steigen'' farm () since the first Steigen Church was built there. The name is derived from the verb which means "mount" or "rise". This is referring to the high and steep mountain Steigtinden (''-tinden'' means "the peak") behind the 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 12 October 1988, but they were not formally approved by the government until 11 January 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 ''" Or three axe blades

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 bend"'' (). 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) that 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 ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold 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 three

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

heads from the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

that are lined up diagonally. The design was chosen to represent the Viking history of the municipality. There are three axe heads to represent that three municipalities were merged in 1964 to form the present municipality. The arms were designed by Henry Tømmerås, the municipal cultural secretary at the time.

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 three parishes () within Steigen Municipality. It is part of the Salten 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 ...

. Ask og brygge.JPG, Part of the old garden at Løvøy Sagaspill Vakter-hagbart-er-tatt.jpg, Steigen Sagaspill (historical play), based on an old tale Løvøy gamle handelssted med Engeløya.JPG, Løvøy old trading centre in Steigen

Geography

The municipality is located along the coast of the

, about north of the town of Bodø, well inside the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. The road to Steigen departs from

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 ...

and makes use of the long Steigentunnelen (see World's longest tunnels). Steigen borders

in the north and

Sørfold Municipality Sørfold 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 Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of S ...

to the south. The

and

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 ...

are located west of Steigen. The Sagfjorden lies on the north and the

Folda Folda may refer to: Places * Folda, Angus, a hamlet in Angus, Scotland * Folda, Nordland, a fjord in Nordland county, Norway * Folda (Rindal), a river in Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag counties in Norway * Folda, Trøndelag Folda is a firth ...

fjord in the south. The municipality is mainly located on a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

dissected by many

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

s. Steigen also includes several

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 ...

s. The largest island is

Engeløya Engeløya is an island in the northern part of Steigen Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island has an area of . The highest point on the island is the Trohornet mountain. The rocky, mountainous island has grassy slopes that are fert ...

, where there are ancient

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

(such as Sigarshaugen) and the world's most northerly naturally occurring

Hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

forest in Prestegårdsskogen Nature Reserve. The largest glacier is Helldalsisen encircling a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

. The island of

is connected to the mainland by the

Engeløy Bridges The Engeløy Bridges () are two bridges in Steigen Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The bridges were built in 1978 to connect the island of Engeløya to the mainland. The higher bridge goes from the mainland at the village of Bogen to ...

and just to the north of that lies the uninhabited island of Lundøya. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Helldalisen. Steigen breivikamotbrattfjorden

Steigen has fertile lowlands in between the mountains and the sea. There are several archeological sites showing settlements from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, and

. Lakes in the region include Forsanvatnet, Hopvatnet, Makkvatnet, and Straumfjordvatnet.

Climate

The monthly 24-hr averages range from in January and February to in July and August, with precipitation ranging from in May to in October; annual average is and mean annual temperature is .

Government

Steigen 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 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 Steigen is made up of 17 representatives that are elected for 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 Steigen 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: *1838–1839: Christian B. Stoltenberg *1839–1840: Hans P. Meisler *1840–1847: Martin Adolph Sigholt *1848–1851: Thomas Aagesen *1852–1864: Peder Hansen *1865–1868: Fredrik Nikolai Jensen *1869–1870: Thomas Aagesen *1871–1878: Peder Hansen *1878–1879: Jonas Svensen *1879–1880: Gerhard Schøning *1881–1884: Johan C.R. Wisløff *1885–1886: Ole Nilssen *1887–1892: Johan C.R. Wisløff *1893–1894: Lars Fremmerlid *1895–1896: Peter M. Kristiansen *1897–1901: Kristian B. Kristensen *1902-1913: Søren S. Svendsen *1914-1916: Hartvig Olsen *1917-1928: Søren S. Svendsen *1929-1931: Peder Hansen *1932-1937: Søren S. Svendsen *1938-1941: Sigurd Vik ( NS) *1941-1945: Johan Beck ( NS) *1945-1945: Jakob Aalstad *1946-1955: Gudmund Storsæther ( LL) *1956-1959: Ludvig Fjellbakk ( Ap) *1960-1963: Sverre Kristiansen ( Ap) *1964-1965: Trygve Aasjord ( H) *1966-1967: Erling J. Vindenes ( V) *1968-1971: Johan O. Skjelstad ( Ap) *1972-1979: Jan A. Laxaa ( Sp) *1980-1985: Tor Johan Aalstad ( Sp) *1985-1991: Ragnar Kildahl ( Sp) *1991-1999: Svein Benoni ( Sp) *1999-2003: Arne Marhaug ( Ap) *2003-2007: Berit Woie Berg ( V) *2007-2019: Asle Schrøder ( Sp) *2019–present: Aase Refsnes ( SV)

Notable people

* Marit Elveos (born 1965 in Steigen), a cross-country skier who competed at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

* Tom Erik Breive (born 1980 in Steigen), a retired football midfielder with over 100 club caps

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 ...

Steigen Municipality

Treveven:Hassel

* {{authority control Municipalities of Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838