Sømna | |
Former Name: | Vik herred |
Idnumber: | 1812 |
County: | Nordland |
District: | Helgeland |
Capital: | Vik i Helgeland |
Established: | 1 Jan 1901 |
Preceded: | Brønnøy Municipality |
Disestablished: | 1 Jan 1964 |
Succeeded: | Brønnøy Municipality |
Established2: | 1 Jan 1977 |
Preceded2: | Brønnøy Municipality |
Demonym: | Sømnværing |
Language: | Bokmål |
Coatofarms: | Sømna komm.svg |
Webpage: | www.somna.kommune.no |
Mayor: | Gunder Strømberg |
Mayor Party: | LL |
Mayor As Of: | 2023 |
Area Rank: | 301 |
Area Total Km2: | 195.19 |
Area Land Km2: | 191.62 |
Area Water Km2: | 3.57 |
Area Water Percent: | 1.8 |
Population As Of: | 2023 |
Population Rank: | 281 |
Population Total: | 1970 |
Population Density Km2: | 10.3 |
Population Increase: | -3.1 |
Coordinates: | 65.3236°N 12.1772°W |
Utm Zone: | 33W |
Utm Northing: | 7247475 |
Utm Easting: | 0368540 |
Geo Cat: | adm2nd |
Sømna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative center of Sømna is the village of Vik i Helgeland. Other villages in the municipality include Dalbotn, Sund, Vennesund, and Berg.
The oldest boat remains ever found in Norway (Haugvikbåten - 2,500 years old) was discovered in a bog in Sømna.
Sømna has some of the best agriculture in the region. Dairy and beef cows as well as grains are produced in Sømna. There is also a dairy in Berg that produces milk and cheese.
The 195km2 municipality is the 301st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sømna is the 281st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,970. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 3.1% over the previous 10-year period.[1] [2]
The municipality of Vik was established on 1 January 1901 when it was separated from the large municipality of Brønnøy. The initial population of Vik was 2,731. In 1941 the municipality was renamed Sømna. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place. The following areas were merged to form a new, larger Brønnøy municipality.
This merger was short-lived because on 1 January 1977, all of the old Sømna municipality (except the Hongsetbygda area) was removed from Brønnøy to become a separate municipality once again. There were 2,107 residents in the newly recreated Sømna municipality.[3]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vik farm (Norse, Old: Vík) since the first Sømna Church was built there. The name is identical with the word which means "bay" or "inlet", here referring to the bay near the church that is now called Vikvågen.[4]
On 13 November 1940, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sømna starting on 1 December 1940.[5] The new name was an old name for the area spelled as Sæmnese or Sørsøm (Norse, Old: Søfn). The meaning of the name is unknown, but it is possibly derived from the word Norse, Old: sveifa which means "wind" or "wave" or it could be derived from the word which means a "quiet sleep".[6] [7]
The coat of arms was granted on 14 June 1991. The official blazon is "Gules, three trefoils argent in pall stems conjoined" (Norwegian: I rødt tre sølv kløverblad forent i trepass). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a group of three clover leaves (trefoils). The clover has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms symbolize agriculture, culture, and prosperity combined. The arms were designed by Rolf Tidemann.[8] [9] [10] [11]
The Church of Norway has one parish (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Sømna. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
Sømna | Sømna Church | Vik i Helgeland | 1876 |
The municipality of Sømna is mostly made up of the southern part of a peninsula off the mainland of Norway and the surrounding islands. It borders Brønnøy to the north by land and Bindal to the south and east by sea, across the Bindalsfjorden.Sømna consists mainly of a wide Strandflaten lowland (coastal brim), and is one of few municipalities in Northern Norway where the farmers still grow some grain.
Sømna has an oceanic climate with few temperature extremes, similar to Brønnøysund. However, Sømna has one national heat record: The warmest night ever recorded in Norway was July 29, 2019 at Sømna-Kvaløyfjellet (302 m) in Sømna with overnight low .[12]
All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[13] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.
The municipal council (Norwegian: Kommunestyre) of Sømna is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Sømna (incomplete list):
. Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt . 1905 . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 16 . Kristiania, Norge . 20 . no . Oluf Rygh.
. Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt . 1905 . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 16 . Kristiania, Norge . 31 . no . Oluf Rygh.