Lødingen

Infobox_Kommune
name=Lødingen
idnumber=1851
county=Nordland
landscape=Hålogaland
capital=Lødingen
governor=Vibeke Tveit (V)
governor_as_of=2007
arearank=202
area=524
arealand=505
areapercent=0.16
population_as_of=2004
populationrank=312
population=2,386
populationpercent=0.05
populationdensity=5
populationincrease=-11.8
language=Bokmål
lat_deg=68| lat_min=24| lat_sec=15| lon_deg=15| lon_min=34| lon_sec=17
utm_zone=33W| utm_northing=7588049 |utm_easting=0523472| geo_cat=adm2nd

munwebpage=www.lodingen.kommune.no

Lødingen is a municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway.

Lødingen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Two other municipalities were later separated from it: Tysfjord (1869) and Tjeldsund (1909). The area of Efjorden was transferred to Ballangen January 1, 1962.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Lødingen (Norse "Lödueng"), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of "laða" f 'grain/hay barn', the last element is "eng" f 'meadow'. boy

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1984). The figure represents Lødingen as a meeting point, in Midtre Hålogaland, between five districts: Lofoten, Ofoten, Salten, Vesterålen and Sør Troms; and between five fjords: Vestfjord, Ofotfjord, Tysfjord, Tjeldsundet and Gullesfjord.

Geography

The municipality encompasses the southern part of Hinnøya. The terrain is mountainous, with several small islands and fjords. The centre of the municipality is the village Lødingen, located at the inner part of Vestfjord at the southern entrance of Tjeldsundet. The nearest airport is Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes, 90 km away by road. Lødingen is an important ferry harbor, the car ferry to/from Bognes in Tysfjord leaves 12 times/day and takes 60 min.

2007 Local Election

The 2007 Local Election was won by Fremskrittspartiet FRP, but because Venstre V, Sosialistisk Ventreparti SV and Arbeidepartiet AP went together and Arbeiderpartiet's Vibeke Tveit became the new Mayor.

Some points of interest

* Eye in Stone ("Øye i stein"), part of Artscape Nordland ("Skulpturlandskap Nordland")
* Norwegian Telecom Museum, telegraphy
* Pilotage Service Museum

External links

* [http://www.skulpturlandskap.no/Skulpturlandskap/kunstverk.html Skulpturlandskap Nordland]
* [http://www.norsktele.museum.no/ Norwegian Telecom Museum]
* [http://www.ssb.no/kommuner/hoyre_side.cgi?region=1851 Lødingen in numbers]

Nordland boy