Country Norway District Salten Area rank 167 in Norway Local time Tuesday 12:26 AM Official language form Norwegian Language | County Nordland Administrative centre Inndyr Area 662 km² Population 2,020 (2011) | |
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Demonym(s) GildeskålfjerdingGildeskålværing Weather 2°C, Wind SE at 19 km/h, 87% Humidity Points of interest Langsanden, Inndyrsvågen, Oterstranda, Stranda, Mevikstranda, Melansjøen, Hestberget, Flogan | ||
Gildeskål is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Bodø Region and the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inndyr. Other villages include Forstranda, Lekanger, Mevik, Mårnes, Nygårdsjøen, Saura, Storvika, Sørarnøya, Sørfinnset, and Våg.
Contents
- Map of GildeskC3A5l Norway
- General information
- Name
- Coat of arms
- Churches
- Geography
- Government
- Municipal council
- Buildings and structures
- References
Map of Gildesk%C3%A5l, Norway
General information
The municipality of Gildeskaal (later spelled Gildeskål) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).
In 1853, the eastern district of Gildeskaal (population: about 1,150) was separated to become the new municipality of Beiarn. This left Gildeskaal with about 2,400 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gildeskaal farm (Old Norse: Gildaskáli) because the first church was built there (Old Gildeskål Church. The first element is the plural genitive case of gildi 'feast' or 'banquet', and the last element is skáli 'hall'.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). The arms show a silver cup on a blue background. The arms are canting since the meaning of the name Gildeskål refers to a banquet hall.
See also: Coat-of-arms of Jevnaker.Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gildeskål. It is part of the Bodø deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
Geography
Gildeskål is a coastal municipality that encompasses part of the mainland as well as many islands. Major islands include Fleinvær, Fugløya, Nordarnøya, Sandhornøya, and Sørarnøya. The southern part of the municipality includes part of the Saltfjellet mountains and the northern part of the municipality borders the Saltfjorden and the Vestfjorden.
There are many lakes in the municipality including: Fellvatnet, Langvatnet, Litle Sokumvatnet, and Sokumvatnet.
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Gildeskål, 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 Gildeskål is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:
Buildings and structures
Sandhornøy Bridge connects the island of Sandhornøya to the mainland.
There is a VLF-transmitter in Gildeskål that is used for sending messages to submerged submarines (call sign: JXN, frequency: 16.4 kHz). It uses as antenna multiple wires spun between two mountains (photo). The transmitter building is located at 66°58′58″N 13°52′23″E.