Loppa

This article is about the municipality in Finnmark, Norway. For the island village in that municipality, see Loppa (island).
Loppa kommune
Láhpi suohkan
Lappean komuuni
Municipality

Øksfjord village

Coat of arms

Finnmark within
Norway

Loppa within Finnmark
Coordinates: 70°14′22″N 22°20′55″E / 70.23944°N 22.34861°E / 70.23944; 22.34861Coordinates: 70°14′22″N 22°20′55″E / 70.23944°N 22.34861°E / 70.23944; 22.34861
Country Norway
County Finnmark
District Vest-Finnmark
Administrative centre Øksfjord
Government
  Mayor (2007) Jan-Eirik Jensen (Kp)
Area
  Total 687.30 km2 (265.37 sq mi)
  Land 669.35 km2 (258.44 sq mi)
  Water 17.95 km2 (6.93 sq mi)
Area rank 162 in Norway
Population (2014)
  Total 1,027 (Decrease from last year)
  Rank 401 in Norway
  Density 1.49/km2 (3.9/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -20.6 %
Demonym(s) Loppværing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-2014
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.loppa.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Loppa (Northern Sami: Láhpi and Kven: Lappean) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Øksfjord. Other villages in Loppa include Andsnes, Bergsfjord, Langfjordhamn, Loppa, Nuvsvåg, Øksfjordbotn, Sandland, and Sør-Tverrfjord.

Most people live in the village of Øksfjord, but smaller communities are spread out along the shores and islands, notably Nuvsvåg, Sandland, Bergsfjord, Brynilen, and the island of Loppa. This island was previously the administrative centre of the municipality (hence the name). There is no airport, but Øksfjord is a port of call for the Hurtigruten boats.

General information

View of the village of Bergsfjord
View near Øksfjord

The municipality of Loppa was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1858, the northern part of Loppa on the island of Sørøya and most of Loppa on Stjernøya (population: 506) was separated to form the new municipality of Hasvik. This left Loppa with 801 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the island of Loppa (Old Norse: Loppa), since it was the former centre of the municipality and the first church (Loppa Church) was located there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. Historically, the name was spelled Loppen.[3][4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 December 1980. The arms show a great black cormorant on a gold background. The cormorant was chosen as a symbol since the municipality has several typical fishing villages which often attract cormorants.[5][6]

See also: coats-of-arms of Røst and Skjervøy

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Loppa. It is part of the Alta deanery in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Churches in Loppa
Parish (sokn)NameLocationYear built
LoppaBergsfjord ChurchBergsfjord1951
Loppa ChurchLoppa1953
Nuvsvåg ChapelNuvsvåg1961
Sandland ChapelSandland1971
Øksfjord ChurchØksfjord1954

Government

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

Loppa Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet6
 Conservative PartyHøyre5
 Centre PartySenterpartiet2
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti2
Total number of members:15

Geography

Loppa is the westernmost municipality of Finnmark and it faces the open stretch of the Norwegian Sea called Lopphavet, and it is mostly coastal with fjords and islands under the gigantic snowcap of the Øksfjordjøkelen glacier. The municipality includes most of the peninsula between the Kvænangen and the Altafjorden. There are also several islands in the municipality, notably Loppa, Silda, and part of Stjernøya. The mountains Lopptinden and Svartfjellet both lie in the municipality along with the glaciers Langfjordjøkelen, Øksfjordjøkelen, and Svartfjelljøkelen.

Climate

Climate data for Øksfjord
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.7
(25.3)
−3.5
(25.7)
−2.1
(28.2)
0.7
(33.3)
4.8
(40.6)
8.9
(48)
12.1
(53.8)
11.3
(52.3)
7.7
(45.9)
3.5
(38.3)
−0.2
(31.6)
−2.6
(27.3)
3.1
(37.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 73
(2.87)
67
(2.64)
57
(2.24)
52
(2.05)
46
(1.81)
52
(2.05)
59
(2.32)
71
(2.8)
80
(3.15)
105
(4.13)
82
(3.23)
86
(3.39)
830
(32.68)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[8]

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1924). Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (18 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 93–94.
  4. Store norske leksikon. "Loppa" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  5. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  6. "Kommunevåpen". Flags of the World. 28 June 2002. Retrieved 2008-12-11. External link in |publisher= (help)
  7. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
  8. "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
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