- Ballangen
Infobox_Kommune
name=Ballangen
idnumber=1854
county=Nordland
landscape=Ofoten
capital=Ballangen
governor=Per Kristian Arntzen (Sp)
governor_as_of=2003
arearank=118
area=931
arealand=847
areapercent=0.29
population_as_of=2004
populationrank=290
population=2,693
populationpercent=0.06
populationdensity=3
populationincrease=-9.7
language=Bokmål
lat_deg=68| lat_min=18| lat_sec=23| lon_deg=16| lon_min=44| lon_sec=39
utm_zone=33W| utm_northing=7578061 |utm_easting=0571942| geo_cat=adm2ndmunwebpage=www.ballangen.kommune.no
Ballangen is a municipality in the county of
Nordland , Norway.Ballangen was separated from
Evenes July 1, 1925. The area ofEfjorden was transferred fromLødingen to Ballangen January 1, 1962.The municipality borders
Narvik to the east andTysfjord to the south, and has a short border withSweden to the southeast. Ballangen is situated on the southern shore ofOfotfjorden . Ballangen also includes the long and narrowEfjorden , just south of the much larger Ofotfjord. Its immediate surroundings are dominated byfjord s, mountains and forest. Ballangen relies on the neighbouringNarvik as its economic base. Ballangen has established cooporation with municipality of Tosno inLeningrad oblast .The name
The Norse form of the name was (maybe) "*Bagangr". Fact|date=August 2008 The meaning of the first element is unknown, the last element is "angr" m 'fjord'.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1980). It shows a
hammer (to representmining industry ) The green background represent the agriculture.Geography
The Efjord area is among the most scenic in
North Norway , dominated by large slopes of bare rock with a narrow green area of vegetation near the fjord. Theobelisk -like mountain nearby is dominated by the same, dark blue-grey rock, which contrasts with the clear water in the fjord where the sand banks can be seen just below the surface. Climbers and hikers are often tempted to test their skills on the rocky slopes.In the east, Ballangen borders on lake
Siiddasjavri (or "Siiddašjávri"), which it shares withSweden . "Siiddašjávri" is the 14th largest lake which lies in or partially in Norway. Another lake in the municipality isBørsvatne .History
The first person living in Ballangen we know by name is Lodve Lange ("Lodve the long"), who is mentioned in
Heimskringla as being one of KingOlav Tryggvason 's most trusted warriors, and being placed near the king in the famous ship Ormen Lange (long serpent). Lodve probably participated in theBattle of Svolder in the year 1000, and might have been killed there. He lived at Saltvik, which is near the fjord, east of the centre in Ballangen today.There is a long history of
mining in Ballangen, starting from the 17th century. Over the years as many as 36 mines have been operated in Ballangen, including minerals likecopper ,nickel andiron ,zink ,manganese andlead , but the most serious mining started in 1911 with Bjørkåsen Gruver mining mostlypyrite ( [http://www.ofotenstidende.no/nyhet.asp?id=3909&fs=20 ] ). Mining for nickel andolivine continued until 2002. There is also adolomite quarry in Ballangen. Ballangen is also the agricultural municipality in the Ofoten district.Famous residents
Anni-Frid Lyngstad ofABBA was born in Ballangen.External links
* [http://norwegen.piranho.de/Nordland_Ballangene.htm Some nice pictures from Ballangen]
* [http://www.ballangen-camping.no/nor/camping-e.html Ballangen Camping]
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