Fauske

General information

On 1 January 1905, the northern district of the municipality of Skjerstad was separated to become the new municipality of Fauske. Initially, the population of Fauske was 4,646. The municipal borders haven't changed since that time. In 1998, the municipality declared township for its administrative centre.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fauske farm (Old Norse: Fauskar), since the first church, Fauske Church, was built there (in 1867). The name is the plural form of fauskr which means "old and rotten tree".

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Fauske. It is part of the Salten deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). The arms show a red reef knot on a gray background. It was chosen to represent Fauske as a center of commerce and transportation for the region.

Economy

Several marble quarries are located in the municipality. The marble is exported to many countries, where it can be observed in many monumental buildings, among them the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. There are also dolostone quarries in Fauske, as well as some agriculture. Salten Kraftsamband and Fauske Lysverk are important employers in Fauske. The town is a commercial centre for parts of the inland areas of Salten, and has hotel and camping facilities. FK Fauske/Sprint is the local soccer team. Historically, mining in Sulitjelma was very important.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Fauske, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fauske is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:

Transportation

The Nordland Line passes through the municipality, reaching Bodø west of Fauske. Travellers going further north usually leave the train in Fauske, and travel by express bus to Narvik or further, using European route E6 which goes through the center of Fauske. The E6 from Mo i Rana north to Fauske crosses over the Saltfjellet mountains, and the E6 further north to Narvik also goes through very rugged terrain; these are among the most scenic drives in Norway, although there are many tunnels in the Sørfold area. The Norwegian national road Rv 80 to Bodø, about 62 kilometres (39 mi) to the west, departs from E6 in the centre of Fauske.

The Norwegian County Road 830 runs from the town of Fauske to the east to the village of Sulitjelma. The road passes through several tunnels: Grønnlifjell Tunnel, Hårskolten Tunnel, Sjønståfjell Tunnel, and Stokkviknakken Tunnel. The road follows the old Sulitjelma Line railroad.

Nature

There are two large glaciers in Fauske: Blåmannsisen and the Sulitjelma Glacier; covering about 14% of the municipality. The highest mountain is Suliskongen at 1,907 metres (6,257 ft) above sea level. There are many lakes in the municipality, such as Blåmannsisvatnet, Kjelvatnet, Låmivatnet, Langvatnet, Muorkkejávrre, Nedrevatnet, Øvrevatnet, and Vuolep Sårjåsjávrre.

Junkerdal National Park and Sjunkhatten National Park are partly located in Fauske. Sulitjelma, located 44 kilometres (27 mi) by road east of Fauske, is a good starting point for hiking in the mountains and hikes to the glaciers. There are several DNT lodges in this area.

There are many nature reserves in the municipality, such as Veten nature reserve with calcareous pine forest and a rich understory and Fauskeeidet wetland area with rich bird life and observation tower.

There are several caves in the municipality. The fairly easy accessible Svarthamarhola (Svarthamar cave) is one of the largest caves in northern Europe, also hosting one of the worlds most northerly bat colonies.

Climate

Fauske is located inside the Arctic circle and has 24-hr of daylight from early May to the beginning of August, with midnight sun from the beginning of June to the second week of July. Average 24-hour temperatures in Fauske is below freezing from mid-November to the last part of March, but the ice-free Skjerstad Fjord moderates winter temperatures. Summer starts in June with moderate summer temperatures lasting until early September. Precipitation is heaviest from September to December (usually as snow in December); average annual precipitation is 1,040 millimetres (41 in). Daytime temperatures are usually significantly warmer than the 24-hr average from March to September, while there is very little diurnal temperature variation from November to early February as the sun is very low or below the horizon all day. However, temperatures varies considerably with the weather; there might be cool westerly winds with temperatures of 10 °C (50 °F) and rain both night and day in July, and the next day might be sunny with daytime temperature reaching 25 °C (77 °F). Southwesterly winds can bring thaws anytime in winter, but not in the mountains, which usually get large amounts of snow in winter—the main reason for the large glaciers and the hydropower in the area.

Notable residents