Namsos

The town was the terminus of the Namsos Line from 1933 until its closure in 2002. The town is the site of the Namsos Hospital which serves the whole region. Namsos Church is located in the town centre. The 4.66 km2 town has a population (2024) of 8,422 and a population density of 1807 PD/km2.

• Official Name — Namsos • Settlement Type — Town/City • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Norway • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Central Norway • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Trøndelag • Subdivision Type3 — District • Subdivision Name3 — Namdalen • Subdivision Type4 — Municipality • Subdivision Name4 — Namsos Municipality • Timezone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +01:00 • Timezone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +02:00 • Established Title — Established as • Established Title1 — Ladested • Established Date1 — 1845 • Area Total Km2 — 4.66 • Population As Of — 2024 • Population Total — 8422 • Population Density Km2 — 1807 • Population Demonym — Namsosing • Postal Code Type — Post Code • Postal Code — 7800 Namsos • Elevation M — 5

• Illustration — Map of Namsos in 1884 The village of Namsos was declared to be a ladested in 1845. At that time, it was separated from Vemundvik Municipality of which it was a part prior to that time. The new town, Ladested Namsos had 591 inhabitants and the rest of Vemundvik Municipality was then renamed Namsos herred (or Namsos landdistrikt) and it had 908 residents after the split. Areas of Namsos herred lying adjacent to the town of Namsos were later annexed by the town on numerous occasions as the town grew. On 1 January 1882, an area with 109 inhabitants was moved to the town. On 1 July 1921 an area with 927 inhabitants was again transferred to Namsos. Then, on 1 July 1957, another area with a population of 6 was transferred to Namsos. In 1940, the town was bombed in the Namsos Campaign during World War II. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, there was a large municipal merger. The following neighboring areas were merged to form a new, larger Namsos Municipality with 10,875 residents. • the town of Namsos (population: 5,224) • all of Vemundvik Municipality (population: 2,040) • all of Klinga Municipality (population: 2,482) • the part of Otterøy Municipality located north of the Namsenfjorden (population: 1,013) • the Finnangerodden area on the island of Otterøya in Fosnes Municipality (population: 116)

The town is named Namsos, which is also the name of the municipality in which it is located. The town was named after its location at the mouth of the river Namsen. The first element of the name is Nams- which comes from the name of the river Namsen. The river name has an uncertain origin. The first part of the river name may come from the Old Norse word Nauma) which has an unknown meaning, but it may come from the word naust which means "boat". The second part of the river name (no) is derived from the word which means "sea". The last element of the town's name is which means the "mouth of a river".

The coat of arms of the town of Namsos was granted on 5 May 1961 and they were in use by the town until 1 January 1964 when a large municipal merger took place. The arms were re-granted to Namsos Municipality on 21 October 1966 a couple years after the town was merged with several other areas to form the new municipality. The arms show a golden moose head on a red background. The elk was chosen as a symbol for the municipality, since Namsos is the capital of the forest-rich Namdalen region, and the moose is the "king of the forest".

• Illustration — Namsos, seen from the fjord • Illustration — Namsos, seen from the mountain Klompen • Illustration — Namsos Hospital • Illustration — Waterfront • Illustration — Namsos Church