Hattfjelldal Municipality

Hattfjelldal or Aarborte (Southern Sami)^[5] is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hattfjelldal. Other villages include Grubben, Svenskvollen, and Varntresk. Hattfjelldal Airfield is located in the village of Hattfjelldal.

CountryNorway

Established1862

AdministrativecentreHattfjelldal

Highestelevation

^[1]

1,699.92 m (5,577.2 ft)

Quick facts Country, County ...

Hattfjelldal Municipality Hattfjelldal kommune Aarborten tjїelte
Municipality
Hatfjelddalen herred (historic name)
View of Hattfjell (lit. 'hat mountain')
Flag Coat of arms
Nordland within Norway
Hattfjelldal within Nordland
Coordinates: 65°32′51″N 14°08′04″E
Country	Norway
County	Nordland
District	Helgeland
Established	1862
• Preceded by	Vefsn Municipality
Administrative centre	Hattfjelldal
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Sølvi Andersen (Ap)
Area
• Total	2,684.35 km² (1,036.43 sq mi)
• Land	2,411.16 km² (930.95 sq mi)
• Water	273.19 km² (105.48 sq mi) 10.2%
• Rank	#20 in Norway
Highest elevation ^[1]	1,699.92 m (5,577.2 ft)
Population (2024)
• Total	1,284
• Rank	#315 in Norway
• Density	0.5/km² (1.3/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−14.4%
Demonym	Hattfjelldaling^[2]
Official languages ^[3]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
• Sámi form	Southern Sami
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1826^[4]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

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The 2,684-square-kilometre (1,036 sq mi) municipality is the 20th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Hattfjelldal Municipality is the 315th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,284. The municipality's population density is 0.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.3/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 14.4% over the previous 10-year period.^[6]^[7]

Hattfjelldal is one of the last strongholds for the severely endangered Southern Sami language. It was also one of the municipalities in Norway involved in the Terra Securities scandal.

General information

The municipality of Hattfjelldal was established in 1862 when it was separated from the large Vefsn Municipality. The initial population of Hattfjelldal Municipality was 961. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the part of Hattfjelldal on the north side of the lake Røsvatnet (population: 168) was transferred to the neighboring Hemnes Municipality.^[8]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hattfjelldalen farm (referred to as "Hatfieldalen" in 1723) where the first Hattfjelldal Church was built. The first element of the name comes from the local mountain Hattfjellet which has a hat-like shape. The mountain name is derived from the genitive case of the word hǫttr which means "hat" and the word fjall which means "mountain". The last element of the name is the definite form of the word dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus it is the "hat-shaped mountain valley".^[9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hatfjelddalen. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hatfjelldalen (removing one "d").^[10] On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hatfjelldal (removing the definite form ending).^[11] On 29 January 1926, the spelling was changed again, this time by adding a "t" to make it Hattfjelldal.^[12]

On 14 June 2019, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Southern Sami language name for the municipality: Aarborte.^[13] The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called Aarborte when it is spelled alone, but it is Aarborten tjїelte when using the Sami language equivalent to "Hattfjelldal Municipality".^[14]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 24 October 1986. The official blazon is "Per fess argent and vert embattled with one battlement" (Norwegian: Delt av sølv og grønt ved tindesnitt med en enkelt tinde). This means the arms have a field (background) that is divided by a horizontal line that has a rectangular raised area. The field above the line has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. Below the line, the field is colored green. The arms were designed to mimic the local Hattfjellet mountain which rises above the terrain and can be seen for great distances. The mountain has steep sides with a rather flat plateau at the top, giving it a distinctive look. The design is a canting element since the name of the municipality means "hat mountain valley". The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.^[15]^[16]^[17]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Hattfjelldal Municipality. It is part of the Indre Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

More information Parish (sokn), Church name ...

**Churches in Hattfjelldal Municipality**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Hattfjelldal	Hattfjelldal Church	Hattfjelldal	1868
	Susendal Church	Svenskvollen	2001
	Varntresk Church	Varntresk	1986

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Geography

Hattfjelldal Municipality lies along the Swedish border in the southeastern part of Nordland county. The lake Røsvatnet (Southern Sami: Reevhtse) lies on the border between Hattfjelldal Municipality and Hemnes Municipality, and it serves as a reservoir. It has been the site of human occupation since the Stone Age. Its area of 219 square kilometres (85 sq mi) makes it the second largest lake in Norway by surface area. Other lakes in the region include Daningen, Elsvatnet, Famnvatnet, Jengelvatnet, Kjerringvatnet, Krutvatnet, Ranseren, Simskardvatnet, and Unkervatnet. The large river Vefsna runs through the municipality.

Børgefjell National Park is partly located in the southern part of Hattfjelldal Municipality, as is Jetnamsklumpen, a prominent mountain. There are several nature reserves, such as Varnvassdalen with a varied topography and old growth forest of pine, birch and some spruce.^[18] The highest point in the municipality is the 1,699.92-metre (5,577.2 ft) tall mountain Kvigtinden (Southern Sami: Voenjelensnjurhtjie) on the border with Grane Municipality.^[1]

Government

Hattfjelldal 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.^[19] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hattfjelldal Municipality is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.