Vikna

Vikna kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Nord-Trøndelag within Norway
Vikna within Nord-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 64°54′42″N 11°1′55″E / 64.91167°N 11.03194°E / 64.91167; 11.03194Coordinates: 64°54′42″N 11°1′55″E / 64.91167°N 11.03194°E / 64.91167; 11.03194
Country	Norway
County	Nord-Trøndelag
District	Namdalen
Administrative centre	Rørvik
Government
– Mayor (2003)	Karin Søraunet (KrF)
Area
– Total	318.10 km2 (122.8 sq mi)
– Land	310.21 km2 (119.8 sq mi)
– Water	7.89 km2 (3 sq mi)
Area rank	268 in Norway
Population (2011)
– Total	4,135
– Rank	228 in Norway
– Density	13.3/km2 (34.4/sq mi)
– Change (10 years)	6.3 %
Demonym	Viknværing[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1750
Official language form	Neutral
Website	vikna.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Vikna is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rørvik. Other villages in Vikna include Austafjord, Garstad, and Valøya.

Ytre Vikna.

General information

The municipality of Vikten was established on 1 July 1869 when it was separated from the municipality of Nærøy. Initially, the population of Vikten was 1,749. On 1 January 1881, a small area of Fosnes (population: 61) was transferred to Vikten. The name of the municipality was later changed to Vikna.^[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the three large islands in the municipality: Inner-Vikna, Mellom-Vikna, and Ytter-Vikna (Old Norse: Víkn). The name is derived from the word vík which means "cove" or "wick". (The islands are scored by numerous coves and inlets.)^[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 13 May 1988. The arms show three salmon on a blue background. This was chosen because salmon fishing and farming was (and still is) an important source of income in the municipality.^[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Vikna. It is part of the Nærøy deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Vikna

Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Vikna	Garstad Church	Garstad	1856
	Rørvik Church	Rørvik	1896
	Valøy Chapel	Valøya	1972

Geography

Langsundet strait

Vikna landscape in spring. 2009.

The municipality consists of a large island archipelago with some 6,000 large and small islands going far into the Norwegian Sea off the northwestern coast of Nord-Trøndelag. Vikna is the largest spawning area for cod south of Lofoten. The three largest islands are: Inner-Vikna, closest to the mainland, Mellom-Vikna, and then Ytter-Vikna as the westernmost island.

The main village is Rørvik, located on the eastern shore of Inner-Vikna, facing the mainland across the Nærøysundet strait. The many islands in the area means that there are many lighthouses including Gjeslingene Lighthouse, Grinna Lighthouse, Nærøysund Lighthouse, and Nordøyan Lighthouse.

On 21 October 1962, the coastal steamer (Hurtigruten) Sanct Svithun run aground on Nordøyan as a result of navigational error. The ship sunk, and there was a tragic loss of 41 lives. A memorial bauta was raised on Nordøyan in 2002.

Economy

Fishing, fish farming, public services, and agriculture are the main sources of income. The Norveg museum, devoted to the coastal way of life through the centuries, is located in Rørvik. The Vikna Wind Farm is located on Mellom-Vikna, just west of Garstad, and it produces power for much of the municipality.

Transportation

Hurtigruten boats stop frequently at Rørvik and Norwegian County Road 770 via the Nærøysund Bridge connects Vikna to the mainland and European route E6. There is also the small Rørvik Airport, Ryum, just south of Rørvik. Vikna and neighbouring Nærøy form a common work area with nearly 10,000 inhabitants.

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf. 
3. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1903) (in Norwegian) (dokpro.uio.no). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Trondhjems amt (15 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 359. http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/navnegransking/rygh_ng/rygh_bla.prl?enhid=251699&avid=55824. 
4. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/v/vikna.htm. Retrieved 17 November 2008. 

External links

• Nord-Trøndelag travel guide from Wikitravel
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Norveg Museum
• Cultural map of Vikna (Norwegian)
• The plant cover of Kalvøya island