Leka, Norway

Leka kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Nord-Trøndelag within
Norway

Leka within Nord-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 65°5′17″N 11°37′1″E / 65.08806°N 11.61694°E / 65.08806; 11.61694Coordinates: 65°5′17″N 11°37′1″E / 65.08806°N 11.61694°E / 65.08806; 11.61694
Country Norway
County Nord-Trøndelag
District Namdalen
Administrative centre Leknes
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Per Helge Johansen (Sp)
Area
 • Total 109.48 km2 (42.27 sq mi)
 • Land 107.97 km2 (41.69 sq mi)
 • Water 1.51 km2 (0.58 sq mi)
Area rank 380 in Norway
Population (2011)
 • Total 589
 • Rank 425 in Norway
 • Density 5.5/km2 (14/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -13.9 %
Demonym(s) Lekværing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1755
Official language form Neutral
Website www.leka.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Leka 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 Leknes. Other villages include Sør-Gutvika and Madsøygrenda.

Leka island has a unique geology

Primarily a fishing and farming community, Leka is the northernmost municipality in Trøndelag. The island has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, as evidenced by cave drawings in the Solsem section of the island.

Toponomy

The Old Norse form of the name was Leka. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it may come from the word lekke which can mean "gravelly ground".[2][3]

History

Dated to the Viking Age, the burial mound Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest (in Norway) from that era.[4]

General information

The municipality of Leka was established on 1 October 1860 when it was separated from the large municipality of Kolvereid. Initially, the population of Leka was 1,702. On 1 January 1909, the southern district of Leka (population: 881) was separated from Leka to form the new municipality of Gravvik. This left Leka was 1,209 residents. The borders of Leka have not changed since then.[5]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 21 April 1989. The arms show the golden wing and claw of an eagle on a red background. (In 1932 a child disappeared on the island, and was refound by an eagles nest.)[2][6]

Churches

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

Churches in Leka
Parish
(Sokn)		Church NameLocation
of the Church		Year Built
LekaLeka ChurchLeknes1867

Geography

Leka is an island municipality encompassing the main island of Leka, the western part of the island of Austra (with the biggest locality being Gutvik), and many other small islands in the surrounding area. The tiny island groups of Sklinna and Horta lie to the west of the main islands. Sklinna Lighthouse is located in the westernmost part of the municipality. Leka borders Vikna and Nærøy municipalities to the south and Bindal (in Nordland county) to the north.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Leka, 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 Leka is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Leka Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet3
 Centre PartySenterpartiet9
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
 Liberal PartyVenstre2
Total number of members:15

Politics

In the 2007 municipal elections, Leka had the highest vote for the Centre Party in Norway, at 69.3 per cent.

Transportation

The island part of Leka (Skei) is connected to Gutvik by a ferry line, operated by Lekaferja.

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. 1 2 Store norske leksikon. "Leka" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  3. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1903). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Trondhjems amt (dokpro.uio.no) (in Norwegian) (15 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 369.
  4. ↑ Mysteriet på Herlaugshaugen fortsetter - Nærmere undersøkelser av Herlaugshaugen på Leka har ikke gitt flere svar på hva som skjuler seg i haugen. De har likevel kartlagt noen nye funn. [The mystery at Herlaugshaugen continues - Closer examinations of Herlaugshaugen at Leka has not given more answers about what is hiding in the mound. They have nevertheless identified some new discoveries.]
  5. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  6. ↑ "Nord-Trøndelag fylke" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  7. ↑ "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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