Loppa Municipality
Loppa Municipality
Loppa kommune | |
|---|---|
| Loppen herred (historic name) | |
 View of the village of Øksfjord | |
 Flag | |
 Finnmark within Norway | |
 Loppa within Finnmark | |
| Coordinates: 70°14′22″N 22°20′55″E / 70.23944°N 22.34861°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Finnmark |
| District | Vest-Finnmark |
| Established | 1 Jan 1838 |
| • Created as | Formannskapsdistrikt |
| Administrative centre | Øksfjord |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2023) | Cato Kristiansen (SV) |
| Area | |
• Total | 689.27 km2 (266.13 sq mi) |
| • Land | 671.19 km2 (259.15 sq mi) |
| • Water | 18.08 km2 (6.98 sq mi) 2.6% |
| • Rank | #167 in Norway |
| Highest elevation | 1,191 m (3,907 ft) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 864 |
| • Rank | #343 in Norway |
| • Density | 1.3/km2 (3.4/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) |  −15.9% |
| Demonym | Loppværing |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Bokmål |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-5614 |
| Website | Official website |
Loppa (Northern Sami: Láhppi and Kven: Lappea) 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.
The 689-square-kilometre (266 sq mi) municipality is the 167th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Loppa is the 343rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 864. The municipality's population density is 1.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.4/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 15.9% over the previous 10-year period.[2][3]
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
[edit]
The municipality of Loppen (later spelled Loppa) was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1858, the northern part of Loppa on the island of Sørøya and most of Loppa on the island of Stjernøya (population: 506) was separated to form the new Hasvik Municipality. This left Loppa with 801 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.[4]
On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Finnmark county.[5] On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Finnmark county.[6]
Name
[edit]The municipality (originally the parish) 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, however it is mentioned to be of Norse origin.[7][8][9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Loppen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Loppa.[10]
Coat of arms
[edit]The coat of arms was granted on 19 December 1980. The official blazon is "Or a cormorant wings elevated sable" (Norwegian: I gult en svart skarv). This means the arms have a charge that is a great black cormorant in sable. The field (background) 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 cormorant was chosen as a symbol since the municipality has several typical fishing villages which often attract cormorants which are reputed to be good fish-catchers. The yellow color in the field symbolizes the riches from the local fishing industry. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.[11][12][13]
Churches
[edit]The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Loppa Municipality. It is part of the Alta prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. In the medieval ages Loppa was its own parish, with traces after an old church in the fishing village of Yttervær, on the island Loppa.
| Parish (sokn) | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loppa | Bergsfjord Church | Bergsfjord | 1951 |
| Loppa Church | Loppa | 1953 | |
| Nuvsvåg Chapel | Nuvsvåg | 1961 | |
| Sandland Chapel | Sandland | 1971 | |
| Øksfjord Church | Øksfjord | 1954 |
Geography
[edit]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. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,191-metre (3,907 ft) tall mountain Øksfjordjøkelen.[1]
Climate
[edit]| 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 (48.0) |
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 (2.9) |
67 (2.6) |
57 (2.2) |
52 (2.0) |
46 (1.8) |
52 (2.0) |
59 (2.3) |
71 (2.8) |
80 (3.1) |
105 (4.1) |
82 (3.2) |
86 (3.4) |
830 (32.7) |
| Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[14] | |||||||||||||