Hadsel Municipality

Hadsel (Template:Langx) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stokmarknes. Some of the main villages in Hadsel include Fiskebøl, Jarstad, Grønning, Grytting, Hanøyvika, Hennes, Kaldjorda, Melbu, Sanden, and Sandnes.

File:Hadseløya - Taen.jpg

Taen, Hadseløya.

File:Fylkesvei 885 Nordland.jpg

Road 885 in Hadsel

The municipality is the southernmost municipality in the Vesterålen region. It is spread over several main islands: Hadseløya, Børøya, Hinnøya, Langøya, and Austvågøya. About 70% of the population live on Hadseløya island. Hadseløya island is connected to Langøya by the Hadsel Bridge and Børøy Bridge. Also, the Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen, is located nearby. It is the busiest small aircraft airport in Norway, serving 100,000 passengers annually (1997).

The municipality is the 191st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Hadsel Municipality is the 130th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,236. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.5% over the previous 10-year period.

History

Hadsel was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The northern district of Hadsel was separated in 1841 to form the new Sortland Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the Indre Eidsfjord district of Hadsel (population: 1,360) was transferred to Sortland Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hadsel farm (Template:Langx) since the first Hadsel Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of Template:Wikt-lang which means "high and steep cliff" or "head". The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "sail". (A cliff near the farm has been compared in form to a sail.)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 11 March 1976. The official blazon is "Azure, four annulets Or, two and two" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is four rings (two over two). The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of sea for this island municipality. The four rings represent the four main islands of that make up Hadsel: Hadseløya, Austvågøya, Hinnøya, and Langøya. The arms were designed by Øystein Bottolfsen.

Churches

File:Hadsel kirke, Norway, 2006.jpg

Hadsel Church

The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Hadsel Municipality. It is part of the Vesterålen prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Hadsel Municipality

Parish ()	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Hadsel	Hadsel Church	Hadseløya	1824
	Innlandet Church	Hennes	1992
Melbu	Melbu Church	Melbu	1938
	Sand Church	Sanden	1914
Ytre Eidsfjord	Grønning Church	Grønning	1968

Geography

The municipality is located upon four main islands in the Vesterålen archipelago: Hinnøya, Langøya, Hadseløya, and Austvågøya, plus the small islands of Børøya and Brottøya. The tall mountain Higravtindan is the highest point in the municipality. It is located on the border with Vågan Municipality and it is one of the tallest mountains in the whole region. Sortland Municipality lies to the north, Bø Municipality lies to the west, Vågan Municipality lies to the south, and Lødingen Municipality lies to the east.

Part of the municipality is called Innlandet (Template:Lit), and this area includes the villages of Kaldjorda, Hennes, Kvitnes, Kvantoelv, and Fiskfjord.

Climate

Hadsel has a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc). The warmest temperature recorded is in July 2014. The coldest temperature recorded is in March 2019. Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen in Hadsel has recorded temperature since June 1972. Data for extremes available since 2004, there might be warmer or colder temperatures recorded before 2004.

Economy

In Spring 2022, a company started mining of cryptocurrency at the company's facility in Stokmarknes; however, that activity had ended by Q3 2024. The facility [was using] around 40% of the power consumed in the whole municipality, heavily impacting the local electric grid.

Government

Hadsel Municipality is 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. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Midtre Hålogaland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Hadsel Municipality is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Hadsel kommunestyre 2023–2027   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	3
	Progress Party	1
	Green Party	1
	Conservative Party	5
	Industry and Business Party	1
	Red Party	1
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist Left Party	2
	Liberal Party	3
	Melbu Area Cooperative List	5
Total number of members:		25

Hadsel kommunestyre 2019–2023   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	4
	Progress Party	1
	Green Party	1
	Conservative Party	3
	Red Party	2
	Centre Party	6
	Socialist Left Party	1
	Liberal Party	3
	Melbu Area Cooperative List	4
Total number of members:		25

Hadsel kommunestyre 2015–2019   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	11
	Progress Party	5
	Conservative Party	2
	Red Party	1
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist Left Party	1
	Liberal Party	1
	Melbu Area Cooperative List	1
Total number of members:		25

Hadsel kommunestyre 2011–2015   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	5
	Progress Party	9
	Conservative Party	3
	Christian Democratic Party	1
	Centre Party	1
	Socialist Left Party	1
	Liberal Party	1
	Hadsel Common List	3
	Melbu Area Cooperative List	1
Total number of members:		25

Hadsel kommunestyre 2007–2011   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	7
	Progress Party	4
	Conservative Party	2
	Christian Democratic Party	1
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist Left Party	1
	Liberal Party	1
	Hadsel common list	6
Total number of members:		25

Hadsel kommunestyre 2003–2007   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	11
	Progress Party	5
	Conservative Party	3
	Christian Democratic Party	2
	Pensioners' Party	1
	Centre Party	4
	Socialist Left Party	4
	Hadsel common list	7
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1999–2003   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	17
	Progress Party	4
	Conservative Party	4
	Christian Democratic Party	3
	Pensioners' Party	1
	Centre Party	4
	Socialist Left Party	3
	Liberal Party	1
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1995–1999   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	13
	Progress Party	3
	Conservative Party	5
	Christian Democratic Party	2
	Pensioners' Party	1
	Centre Party	7
	Socialist Left Party	4
	Liberal Party	2
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1991–1995   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	14
	Progress Party	1
	Conservative Party	7
	Christian Democratic Party	2
	Centre Party	6
	Socialist Left Party	6
	Liberal Party	1
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1987–1991   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	13
	Progress Party	3
	Conservative Party	8
	Christian Democratic Party	2
	Pensioners' Party	1
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist Left Party	4
	Liberal Party	3
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1983–1987   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	15
	Conservative Party	9
	Christian Democratic Party	5
	Centre Party	2
	Socialist Left Party	3
	Liberal Party	3
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1979–1983   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	14
	Conservative Party	9
	Christian Democratic Party	4
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist Left Party	2
	Liberal Party	3
	Melbu area non-party list	2
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1975–1979   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	15
	Conservative Party	5
	Christian Democratic Party	5
	Centre Party	5
	Socialist Left Party	3
	Liberal Party	3
	Common List Innlandet and Indre Stranland	1
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1971–1975   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	17
	Conservative Party	4
	Christian Democratic Party	5
	Centre Party	5
	Socialist People's Party	3
	Liberal Party	3
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1967–1971   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	20
	Conservative Party	4
	Christian Democratic Party	5
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist People's Party	2
	Liberal Party	3
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel kommunestyre 1963–1967   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	16
	Conservative Party	5
	Communist Party	1
	Christian Democratic Party	5
	Centre Party	3
	Socialist People's Party	2
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders	2
	Local List(s)	3
Total number of members:		37

Hadsel herredsstyre 1959–1963   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	17
	Conservative Party	5
	Communist Party	1
	Christian Democratic Party	6
	Centre Party	4
	Local List(s)	8
Total number of members:		41

Hadsel herredsstyre 1955–1959   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	25
	Communist Party	2
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties	11
	Local List(s)	3
Total number of members:		41

Hadsel herredsstyre 1951–1955   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	18
	Communist Party	3
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties	13
	Local List(s)	2
Total number of members:		36

Hadsel herredsstyre 1947–1951   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	19
	Communist Party	3
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties	12
	Local List(s)	2
Total number of members:		36

Hadsel herredsstyre 1945–1947   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	18
	Communist Party	3
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders	6
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties	3
	Local List(s)	6
Total number of members:		36

Hadsel herredsstyre 1937–1941*   

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party	17
	Communist Party	1
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders	6
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties	10
	Local List(s)	2
Total number of members:		36
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Mayors

The mayor (Template:Langx) of Hadsel Municipality 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:

• 1872–1878: Sofus Arctander
• (unknown period): Carl Martin Ellingsen
• 1919–1928: K. L. Leknes (V)
• 1928–1931: Håvard Hanssen
• 1934–1937: O. Fjellstad (Ap)
• 1945–1945: Olav Dahl
• 1959–1967: Edmund Fjærvoll (KrF)
• 1968–1971: Bjarne Bendiksen (Ap)
• 1972–1972: Egil Karlsen (V)
• 1972–1973: Trygve Pettersen (Ap)
• 1974–1975: Elnar Bårdsen (Ap)
• 1975–1979: John Kristiansen (H)
• 1979–1985: Dag Jostein Fjærvoll (KrF)
• 1985–1987: Ingegjerd Solum (Ap)
• 1987–1999: Hugo Olsen (Ap)
• 1999–2003: Ørjan Robertsen (Ap)
• 2003–2007: Reidar Johnsen (Sp)
• 2007–2015: Kjell-Børge Freiberg (FrP)
• 2015–2019: Siv Dagny Aasvik (Ap)
• 2019–2020: Kurt Eirik Jenssen (Sp)
• 2020–2023: Aina Johanne Nilsen (Sp)
• 2023–present: Kjell-Børge Freiberg (H)

File:Kjell-Børge Freiberg (cropped).jpg

Kjell-Børge Freiberg, 2019

Notable people

• Øyvinn Øi (1901 in Hadsel – 1940), a Norwegian military officer killed at the outbreak of WWII
• Asbjørn Herteig (1919 in Hadsel – 2006), an archeologist who was the first curator at the Bryggen Museum
• Maren-Sofie Røstvig (1920 in Melbu – 2014), a literary historian
• Henry Valen (1924 in Hadsel – 2007), a political scientist and academic
• Lars Andreas Larssen (1935 in Melbu – 2014), a stage, film, and television actor
• Oddbjørn Knutsen (1953 in Hadsel – 2019), a political scientist and academic
• Kjell-Børge Freiberg (born 1971 In Hadsel), a Norwegian politician, government minister, and mayor of Hadsel from 2007 to 2015

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway Template:In lang
• Pictures from Hadsel