Storfjord Municipality Storfjord kommune Omasvuona suohkan Omasvuonon kunta
Municipality
View of the Skibotn harbor and camping area
Flag Coat of arms
Troms within Norway
Storfjord within Troms
Coordinates: 69°16′43″N 20°17′12″E / 69.27861°N 20.28667°E / 69.27861; 20.28667
Country	Norway
County	Troms
District	Nord-Troms
Established	1929
• Preceded by	Lyngen Municipality
Administrative centre	Hatteng
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Geir Varvik (H)
Area
• Total	1,542.74 km2 (595.66 sq mi)
• Land	1,476.62 km2 (570.13 sq mi)
• Water	66.11 km2 (25.53 sq mi)  4.3%
• Rank	#54 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	1,836
• Rank	#291 in Norway
• Density	1.2/km2 (3/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−5.5%
Demonym	Storfjording[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-5538[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Storfjord (Northern Sami: Omasvuotna [ˈomasˌvuo̯tna]; Kven: Omasvuono)^[4] is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hatteng. Other villages in Storfjord include Elvevoll, Oteren, and Skibotn.

The 1,543-square-kilometre (596 sq mi) municipality is the 54th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Storfjord is the 291st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,836. The municipality's population density is 1.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.1/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 5.5% over the previous 10-year period.^[5][6]

General information

The municipality of Storfjord was established in 1929 when the large Lyngen Municipality was divided into three: Lyngen Municipality in the northwest, Kåfjord Municipality in the northeast, and Storfjord Municipality in the south. The initial population of Storfjord was 1,499. On 1 January 1964, the Elvebakken farm of Balsfjord Municipality was transferred to Storfjord. Then on 1 January 1992, one uninhabited farm in the Nordnes area of Lyngen Municipality was transferred to Storfjord.^[7]

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.^[8] On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.^[9]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Storfjorden. The first element is stor which means "great" or "big". The last element is fjord which means "fjord". Thus the name means "great fjord". After a long debate within the municipality, in 2014 the municipality (and national government) approved co-official names of the municipality so that it can be called Omasvuotna (Northern Sami), Omasvuono (Kven), or Storfjord (Norwegian). These names are parallel, co-equal names that can be used interchangeably to refer to the municipality in the three different languages.^[10] The spelling of the Sami and Kven language names change depending on how they are used. In Sami, it is called Omasvuotna when it is spelled alone, but it is Omasvuona suohkan when using the Sami language equivalent to "Storfjord municipality". In Kven, it is called Omasvuono when it is spelled alone, but it is Omasvuonon kunta when using the Kven language equivalent to "Storfjord municipality".^[4]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 9 February 1990. The official blazon is "Gules, three poppies Or in pall" (Norwegian: I rødt tre gull valmuer stilt i trepass). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is three poppies of the very rare species Papaver laestadianum (a subspecies of Papaver radicatum). The poppies have a tincture of Or which means they are commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The poppies are rotated around a meeting point which represents the meeting point (Treriksrøysa) of the three countries Norway, Sweden, and Finland, that lies on the edge of the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.^[11][12][13]

Churches

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

History

The Sami culture is the original culture; however, in the 19th century, settlers came from Finland and from the valleys of Southern Norway to establish themselves. Sami culture, though, has survived in parts of Storfjord to the present. In the 19th century, Laestadianism, a puritan religious movement, obtained a strong position. Skibotn is even today a stronghold for this movement.

The market of Skibotn was traditionally a meeting point between ethnic groups, where Sami, Finns, and Norwegians met to trade. This market still takes place today. The ethnic mix is interesting, with both Sami and Finnish cultures represented. In the valley of Signaldalen, a Norwegian dialect of southern origin is spoken, a relic of the valley's settlement from the south in the early 19th century.

World War Two

There were several prison camps there during World War Two.^[14] A 2014 NRK article estimated that a total of around 7000 or 8000 Soviet prisoners, were interred in these prison camps.^[14] Furthermore, the Mallnitz Camp was the worst.^[14]

Government

All municipalities in Norway are 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.^[15] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Nord-Troms og Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Storfjord is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors of Storfjord:^[35]

Geography

The municipality is situated around the inner parts of the Lyngen fjord. Storfjord borders both Finland and Sweden, and the borders of the three countries meet at the beacon of Treriksröset, the northernmost point of Sweden. Treriksrøysa is a popular hiking destination; there are no fences, so at this location one step forward is all that is needed to get from one country to another. Pine and birch forests are common in the valleys in Storfjord, and the more rare calcareous pine forests, with several orchids, are also present. The lake Rihpojávri is located near the eastern border of Storfjord.

Climate

The Skibotn valley has a microclimate with little cloud cover by Norwegian standards, and annual precipitation down to 300 to 500 millimetres (12 to 20 in). This is due to the high mountains in the Lyngen Alps to the west, placing Skibotn valley in a rain shadow. Skibotn has fewest clouds in Norway, with on average 88 days/year with no clouds.^[36] The Norwegian Centre for Space Weather has an observatory in Skibotn.^[37] Precipitation is fairly even distributed over the year, although spring and early summer is drier than the rest of the year. The climate is classified as boreal, but with a complete lack of permafrost (except in the mountains).The all-time high temperature is 32.7 °C (90.9 °F) recorded July 2014; while August 2018 recorded 32.4 °C (90.3 °F). The all-time low is −28.6 °C (−19.5 °F) recorded February 2012 (extremes since 2004). Skibotn recorded 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) 10 November 2011, at that time the warmest November temperature recorded in Troms.