Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 893-square-kilometre (345 sq mi) municipality was the 126th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Lenvik was also the 101st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 11,679. The municipality's population density was 13.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (34/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.2% over the previous decade.[5][6]
General information
View of the lake Rossfjordstraumen
The parish of Lenvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1848, most of the mainland parts of Lenvik (population: 2,616) were separated to form the new Målselv Municipality, leaving Lenvik with 3,029 residents. Then in 1855, the northern part of Lenvik (population: 811) was separated to form the new Hillesøy Municipality. This left Lenvik with 2,757 inhabitants. On 1 January 1871, a small part of Lenvik (population: 70) was transferred to the neighboring Malangen Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the following areas were merged into Lenvik:[7]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lenvik farm (Old Norse: Lengjuvík) since the first Lenvik Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Lengja. The river name is derived from the word langr which means "long". The last element is vík which means "cove" or "bay".[10] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Lenviken. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Lenvik, removing the definite form ending -en.[11]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 22 August 1986 and it was in used until 1 January 2020 when the municipality became part of the new Senja Municipality. The official blazon is "Azure, three oars bendwiseOr, blades to the chief" (Norwegian: I blått tre skråstilte gull årer med bladene opp). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three oars laying diagonally with the blades at the top of the shield. The oars have a tincture of Or which means they are commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field and the oars were chosen as a symbol for sailing and shipping along with the fishing industry which is the main form of income in the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.[12][13][14]
The first local church was built around the year 1150 at Bjorelvnes, and for a century, this was the northernmost church in the world. Important villages in the past include Klauva and Gibostad. Gibostad was the administrative centre until the 1960s, when the administration was moved to Finnsnes. In 2000, Finnsnes was declared a town.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Lenvik was made up of 31 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Lenvik 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 (incomplete list):
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