Vefsn

Vefsn Municipality

*Vefsn kommune*
Vefsn Municipality Vefsn kommune
Municipality
	Flag Coat of arms
	Nordland within Norway
	Vefsn within Nordland
Country	Norway
County	Nordland
District	Helgeland
Administrative centre	Mosjøen
Government
• Mayor (2003)	Jann-Arne Løvdahl (Ap)
Area
• Total	1,928.72 km2 (744.68 sq mi)
• Land	1,839.96 km2 (710.41 sq mi)
• Water	88.76 km2 (34.27 sq mi)
• Rank	#33 in Norway
Population (2011)
• Total	13,307
• Rank	#77 in Norway
• Density	7.2/km2 (19/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−1.4%
Demonym	Vefsning
Official language
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1824
Website	Official website
	Data from Statistics Norway

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File:Vefsn map.jpg

Map of Vefsn

Part of the city park in Mosjøen, Vefsn municipality.

Vefsn (Southern Sami: Vaapste) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mosjøen (population: 9,631). Other villages include Drevvassbygda, Elsfjord, and Husvik.

Origin of name; coat-of-arms

The municipality is named after the river Vefsna which flows through the municipality into the Vefsnfjorden. The meaning of the river name is unknown. Historically, the spelling has varied from Vefsen to Væffsn.^[4]

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 13 September 1974. They show a gray and red rooster on a black background. The rooster is a symbol for watchfulness and alertness. It was adopted by the municipality of Mosjøen on 25 March 1960. After the merger with Vefsn, Drevja, and Elsfjord in 1962, the new name of the municipality became Vefsn and the old arms of Mosjøen were chosen for the new municipality. Since the arms officially became obsolete after the merger, they were re-granted in 1974.^[5]

History

The municipality of Vefsn was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1862, the eastern district (population: 921) was separated from Vefsn to become the new municipality of Hattfjelldal. This left Vefsn with 5,051 residents. In 1876, the town of Mosjøen (population: 379) was separated from Vefsn to become a separate municipality.

In 1927, the northern district was separated from Vefsn to become the new municipality of Drevja and the southern district was separated to become the new municipality of Grane. After the separations, Vefsn had 3,119 residents remaining. In 1939, a small area of Vefsn (population: 45) was transferred to Mosjøen.

On 1 January 1962, the town of Mosjøen and the municipalities of Drevja, Elsfjord, and Vefsn were merged to form a new, larger municipality of Vefsn. On 1 January 1995, the mainland areas of Alstahaug (population: 70) were transferred to Vefsn.^[6]

World War II

There was a prison camp at Osen.

Of the Norwegian guards (at the camp) "who murdered and maltreated prisoners", none of them received the death penalty after the war;^[7] Some German former staff were executed.

Geography

The administrative centre of Vefsn is the town of Mosjøen which is situated along the innermost part of the Vefsnfjorden. Outside Mosjøen, the large municipality of Vefsn is dominated by spruce forests, mountains, lakes, agriculture, and the Vefsna river. The municipality is served by Mosjøen Airport, Kjærstad.

The mountain Lukttinden is located in the northern part of the municipality. There are many large lakes in Vefsn including Drevvatnet, Finnknevatnet, Fustvatnet, Hundålvatnet, Luktvatnet, Mjåvatnet, and Ømmervatnet. The Lomsdal–Visten National Park is partially located in Vefsn.

Birdlife

The bird watcher that visits Vefsn soon realizes that it will take more than a day to cover all the interesting habitats and birding areas. Here you will find areas of virtually untouched coniferous woodlands, both inland and along the coast. The Skjørlegda nature reserve is a good example of woodland protection. Here you will find a virtually untouched coniferous forest covering the Eiterå valley. The valley stretches inland to a higher mountainous habitat that is also worth checking.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vefsn, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vefsn is made up of 29 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:^[8]

Vefsn kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	10
	Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høyre)	5
	Red Party (Rødt)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	2
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	3
Total number of members:		29

Culture

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Vefsn. It is part of the Indre Helgeland deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Vefsn**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Dolstad	Dolstad Church	Mosjøen	1735
Drevja	Drevja Church	Drevja	1883
Elsfjord	Elsfjord Church	Elsfjord	1955

References

^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
^ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 64.
^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-11-30.
^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
^ https://finnbakk.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/myrdetkrigsfanger/
^ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.

External links

Nordland travel guide from Wikivoyage
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Local history and genealogy Template:No icon
Andås nature reserve with mixed forest Template:No icon
Skjørlægda nature reserve preserving an intact valley ecosystem Template:No icon

[1] "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.

[2] "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.

[3] Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.

[4] Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 64.

[5] Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-11-30.

[6] Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.

[7] ttps://finnbakk.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/myrdetkrigsfanger/

[8] "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.

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