Buksnes Municipality

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Buksnes is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The Script error: No such module "convert". municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It comprised the western part of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administrative centre was located in the village of Gravdal where the main church for the municipality, Buksnes Church, is located. Other villages in Buksnes included Ballstad and Leknes.^[1]^[2]

Prior to its dissolution in 1963, the Script error: No such module "convert". municipality was the 521st largest by area out of the 705 municipalities in Norway. Buksnes Municipality was the 197th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 4,373. The municipality's population density was Script error: No such module "convert". and its population had decreased by 5.5% over the previous 10-year period.^[3]^[4]

General information

The municipality of Buksnes was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 July 1919, the southeastern district of Buksnes Municipality (population: 2,272) was separated from it to create the new Hol Municipality. The split left Buksnes Municipality with 3,188 inhabitants. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Buksnes Municipality (population: 4,416) was merged with the neighboring Borge Municipality (population: 4,056), Hol Municipality (population: 3,154), and Valberg Municipality (population: 662) to create the new Vestvågøy Municipality.^[5]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Buksnes farm (historically: Buxnnæs) since the first Buksnes Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but the first element may be derived from Script error: No such module "Lang". which means "sign" or "mark", possibly referring to a sea mark. The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "headland".^[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (Script error: No such module "Lang".) within Buksnes Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Buksnes prestegjeld and the Lofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Buksnes**
Parish (Script error: No such module "Lang".)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Buksnes	Buksnes Church	Gravdal	1905

Geography

The municipality was located on the western part of the large island of Vestvågøya. Borge Municipality was located to the northeast, Valberg Municipality was to the east, Hol Municipality was located to the south, and Flakstad Municipality was located to the west (on the island of Flakstadøya). The highest point in Buksnes Municipality is the Script error: No such module "convert". tall mountain Himmeltindan, which was located on the border with neighboring Borge Municipality.^[7]

Government

While it existed, Buksnes Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[8] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor (Template:Langx) of Buksnes was 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):^[9]