Country Norway District Midt-Troms Area rank 125 in Norway Area 892.4 km² Local time Wednesday 1:55 PM | County Troms Administrative centre Finnsnes Demonym(s) Lenvikværing Population 11,345 (2012) Official language form Norwegian Language | |
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Weather -1°C, Wind W at 23 km/h, 84% Humidity Points of interest Stranda, Porkelvsanden, Oksestrand, Skjellsanda, Heimbørsanda, Rødvikstranda | ||
Lenvik (Northern Sami: Leaŋgáviika) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality is partly situated on the mainland, partly on the island of Senja. The administrative centre is the town of Finnsnes, where the Gisund Bridge connects Senja to the mainland on Norwegian County Road 86. Other villages in the municipality include Aglapsvik, Gibostad, Botnhamn, Fjordgård, Finnfjordbotn, Husøy, Langnes, Laukhella, Silsand, and Rossfjordstraumen. The lake Lysvatnet is located on Senja island west of Gibostad.
Contents
- Map of Lenvik Norway
- General information
- Name
- Coat of arms
- Churches
- History
- Geography
- Government
- Municipal council
- References
Map of Lenvik, Norway
General information
The large municipality of Lenvik was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1848, most of the mainland parts of Lenvik (population: 2,616) was separated to form the new municipality of Målselv, leaving Lenvik with 3,029 residents. Then in 1855, the northern part of Lenvik (population: 811) was separated to form the new municipality of Hillesøy. This left Lenvik with 2,757 inhabitants. On 1 January 1871, a small part of Lenvik (population: 70) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Malangen.
On 1 January 1964, many several neighboring areas were merged into Lenvik:
These areas joined to old areas of Lenvik to form a new, larger municipality of Lenvik with a total population of 10,219.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lenvik farm (Old Norse: Lengjuvík), since the first church (Lenvik Church) was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Lengja and the last element is vík which means "cove" or "wick". The river name is derived from the word langr which means "long". From 1889-1908, the name was spelled Lenviken.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 22 August 1986. The arms show three gold oars on a blue background. The oars and color blue are a symbol for the fishing and sailing in the municipality. To distinguish the arms from those from many other fishing towns, the oar was chosen as a symbol.
Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Lenvik. It is part of the Senja deanery in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.
History
The first church was built around 1150 at Bjorelvnes, and for a century, this was the northernmost church in the world. Important villages in the past include Klauva and Gibostad. Gibostad was the administrative centre until the 1960s, when the administration was moved to Finnsnes. In 2000, Finnsnes was declared a town.
Geography
The municipality of Lenvik lies partly on the island of Senja and also on the mainland of Norway. The Malangen fjord flows along the northern boundary and the Solbergfjorden lies on the southern boundary. The Gisundet strait runs north-south through the center of the municipality with only one road crossing, the Gisund Bridge. The municipalities of Berg and Tranøy border the municipality to the west, the municipality of Tromsø is to the north (across the Malangen fjord), the municipalities of Balsfjord and Målselv are to the east, and the municipalities of Sørreisa and Dyrøy are to the south.
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Lenvik, 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 Lenvik is made up of 31 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows: