The 1,009-square-kilometre (390 sq mi) municipality is the 114th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Steigen is the 245th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,672. The municipality's population density is 2.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (6.7/sq mi) and its population has increased by 3.6% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
The municipality of Steigen was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The southern part of Steigen Municipality was separated on 1 September 1900 to form the new Ledingen Municipality. This left 2,216 residents in Steigen Municipality.
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. A new Steigen Municipality was created by the merging the following areas:
the part of Hamarøy Municipality that was south of the Sagfjorden and between the lake Storvatnet and the Veggfjellan mountain area (population: 77)
Prior to the merger, the population of Steigen Municipality was 1,843, and after the merger, the new municipality had 4,545 residents.[7][8]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Steigen farm (Old Norse: Steig) since the first Steigen Church was built there. The name is derived from the verb stíga which means "mount" or "rise". This is referring to the high and steep mountain Steigtinden (-tinden means "the peak") behind the farm.[9]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 12 October 1988, but they were not formally approved by the government until 11 January 1991. The official blazon is "Or three axe blades sablein bend" (Norwegian: I gull tre svarte øksehoder i skrå rekke). This means the arms have a field (background) that has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is three axe heads from the Viking Age that are lined up diagonally. The design was chosen to represent the Viking history of the municipality. There are three axe heads to represent that three municipalities were merged in 1964 to form the present municipality. The arms were designed by Henry Tømmerås, the municipal cultural secretary at the time.[10][11][12][13]
The municipality is mainly located on a peninsula dissected by many fjords. Steigen also includes several islands. The largest island is Engeløya, where there are ancient burial mounds (such as Sigarshaugen) and the world's most northerly naturally occurring Hazel forest in Prestegårdsskogen Nature Reserve. The largest glacier is Helldalsisen encircling a 1,361 metres (4,465 ft) mountain. The island of Engeløya is connected to the mainland by the Engeløy Bridges and just to the north of that lies the uninhabited island of Lundøya. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,351.15-metre (4,432.9 ft) tall mountain Helldalisen.[1]
The monthly 24-hr averages range from −1 °C (30 °F) in January and February to 13 °C (55 °F) in July and August, with precipitation ranging from 49 millimetres (1.9 in) in May to 146 millimetres (5.7 in) in October; annual average is 970 millimetres (38.2 in) and mean annual temperature is 5.1 °C (41 °F).[14]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Steigen is made up of 17 representatives that are elected for four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Steigen is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:[35][36]
^Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
^Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
^Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
^Statistisk sentralbyrå (2001). "1848 Steigen. Population 1 January and population changes during the year. 1951-" (in Norwegian).
^Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 249.
^"Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^"Steigen, Nordland (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^"Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 18 March 1991. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^"Kommunevåpen" (in Norwegian). Steigen Kommune. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^"Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
^"Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 28 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 - Nordland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 28 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.
^Fygle, Svein (1980). Steigen bygdebok (in Norwegian). Steigen kommune. pp. 138–139. ISBN 8290030606.
^Årbok for Steigen (in Norwegian). Vol. 32. Steigen historielag. 2007. p. 38.