- Tana, Norway
-
Tana kommune
Deatnu gielda— Municipality —
Coat of arms
Finnmark within
NorwayTana within Finnmark Coordinates: 70°13′18″N 27°57′7″E / 70.22167°N 27.95194°ECoordinates: 70°13′18″N 27°57′7″E / 70.22167°N 27.95194°E Country Norway County Finnmark Administrative centre Tana Bru Government – Mayor (2007) Frank Martin Ingilæ (Ap) Area – Total 4,049 km2 (1,563.3 sq mi) – Land 3,833 km2 (1,479.9 sq mi) Area rank 5 in Norway Population (2004) – Total 3,004 – Rank 272 in Norway – Density 1/km2 (2.6/sq mi) – Change (10 years) -8.2 % Demonym Tanaværing[1] Time zone CET (UTC+1) – Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2) ISO 3166 code NO-2025 Official language form Northern Sami
and BokmålWebsite tana.kommune.no Data from Statistics Norway Deatnu (Northern Sami) or Tana (Norwegian) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tana Bru.
The areas of Tana, Berlevåg, and Polmak (separated from Lebesby on 1 January 1846) were merged together with the area of Nesseby (separated from Vadsø the same date) to create the greater municipality of Nesseby.
Tana (together with Berlevåg) was separated from Nesseby on 1 January 1864 and together with the area of Gamvik (separated from Lebesby the same date) these were merged to create the greater municipality of Tana.
The areas of Berlevåg and Gamvik were separated from Tana as municipalities of their own on 1 July 1913. The municipality of Polmak (separated from Nesseby on 1 January 1903) was merged with Tana on 1 January 1964.
Contents
General information
Name
Tana is a Norwegianized form of the Sami name Deatnu. The Sami name is identical with the Sami word deatnu which means "great river" or "main river".
Prior to 1918, the name was written "Tanen". In 1992 the name was changed to Deatnu-Tana.[2] Then in 2005 the name was again changed such that either Deatnu or Tana can be used.[3]
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 May 1984. The arms show three typical low riverboats used for centuries in the area. The three boats symbolise the Sami, Finns, and Norwegians that live in this border municipality. The colours are the Norwegian colours.[4]
Location
Deatnu-Tana is situated along the lower river basin of the Tana, which borders Finland along most of its course. People live in small settlements along the river, notably Sirma, Polmak, Rustefjelbma, Seida, Skipagurra, Austertana, and Tana Bru. The last is where the municipal centre is located. Most inhabitants are Sami, and the Sami language and culture are today promoted by the municipality and the schools.
The river Tana has represented a mainstay in the economy, as it is one of Europe's main salmon rivers. River transportation is traditionally done by long, narrow river boats, that are still in use, albeit motorized. Lakes in this area include Geassájávri and Nissojávri. Tana Bru, the bridge over the Tana river, is an important link on the European route E6 and the European route E75. The nearest airports are Vadsø Airport, 70 km away, and Kirkenes Airport, 130 km away. Kirkenes, not Vadsø, has direct flights to Oslo.
Birdlife
With the Tana River flowing through wild and spectacular habitat, the municipality of Tana has a one of the most spectacular gatherings in Norway. As many as 25,000 Goosanders can accumulate along the Tana waterway system. Add to this, thousands of Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck, then you have one of the largest concentrations of wildfowl in Norway.
References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ "Ot.prp. nr. 111 (2001-2002)". http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fad/dok/regpubl/otprp/20012002/Otprp-nr-111-2001-2002-.html?id=125740. (Norwegian)
- ^ "Endring av skrivemåten for tospråklige kommuner.". http://www.lovdata.no/cgi-wift/wiztldles?doc=/usr/www/lovdata/for/lf/ov/ov-20041210-1636.html. (Norwegian)
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/t/tana.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
External links
- Media related to Tana at Wikimedia Commons
- Angling in Tana river
Municipalities of Finnmark Categories:- Municipalities of Finnmark
- Sami language municipalities
- Populated places of Arctic Norway
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