The 241-square-kilometre (93 sq mi) municipality is the 292nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Ibestad is the 312th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,279 The municipality's population density is 5.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (14/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
General information
Ibestad includes the two islands in the central part of this pictureIbestad Church
The municipality of Ibestad was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Initially, Ibestad municipality covered a large area from the Vågsfjorden to the border with Sweden (the old Astafjord Church parish). In 1854, the rural eastern half of the municipality (population: 757) was separated from Ibestad to form the new Bardu Municipality. This left Ibestad with 4,741 residents.
Then, on 1 January 1871, the northeastern part of the municipality (population: 1,384) was separated from Ibestad to form the new Salangen Municipality. This left Ibestad with 4,301 inhabitants. On 1 January 1907, the easternmost area of Ibestad (population: 1,536) became the separate Lavangen Municipality. Ibestad had 5,709 residents remaining after the split. In 1926, the municipality of Ibestad was divided into four separate municipalities: Andørja Municipality (population: 1,420) in the northeast, Gratangen Municipality (population: 1,967) in the southeast, Astafjord Municipality (population: 1,018) in the southwest, and (a much smaller) Ibestad Municipality (population: 1,768) in the northwest.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Ibestad (population: 1,821) was merged with Andørja Municipality (population: 1,330) and the part of Skånland Municipality located on the island of Rolla (population: 143), creating a new Ibestad Municipality with a total of 3,294 residents.[6]
On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.[7] On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.[8]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Ibestad farm (Old Norse: Ívarsstaðir) since the first Ibestad Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name Ívarr. The last element is staðir which means "homestead" or "farm".[9] Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Ibbestad. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Ibestad.[10]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 19 December 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a cross formy within and conjoined to an annuletargent" (Norwegian: I blått et sølv hjulkors med utbøyde armer). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a cross formy inside an annulet (circle). The charge 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 design is reminiscent of the Ibestad Church, built around the year 1200. It is one of the northernmost stone churches in the world. In the 1960s a 13th-century gravestone was found at the church which had the same type of "wheel cross" design. This design was eventually chosen for the Ibestad coat of arms. These types of crosses were often used as ornaments in wooden stave churches. The arms were designed by Steinar Hanssen.[11][12][13]
The Astafjorden forms the southeastern border of the municipality and the Vågsfjorden forms the western and northern borders. The small Mjøsundet strait forms the eastern border. The highest point in Ibestad is the 1,276-metre (4,186 ft) tall Langlitinden mountain.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Ibestad is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
^"Fylkesinndelingen fra 2024" (in Norwegian). Regjeringen.no. 5 July 2022.
^Rygh, Oluf (1911). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (in Norwegian) (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 40.
^"Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1057–1065. 1917.
^"Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^"Ibestad, Troms (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^"Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 19 December 1986. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^"eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 14 June 2004.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^"Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Troms Romsa". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^"Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Troms og Finnmark". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
^ a b c d"Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
^"Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Troms Romsa". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1972" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^Johansen, Mette (2014). Handelsfamilien Dons og deres sosiale nettverk. En kartlegging av familiens ekteskap og fadderskap, samt et blikk på bruk av lokalhistorie som undervisningsmetode (Masteroppgave i historie thesis) (in Norwegian). Tromsø: Universitetet i Tromsø, Norges arktiske universitet. p. 80. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017.
^Larsen, Jon Henrik (28 September 2023). "Jim blir ny ordfører i Ibestad: Gleder meg til å ta fatt på jobben". Salangen-Nyheter (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2024.
External links
Media related to Ibestad at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of ibestad at Wiktionary