Sømna Municipality

Other villages in the municipality include Dalbotn, Sund, Vennesund, and Berg. The 195 km2 municipality is the 302nd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. The 282md most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,976. The municipality's population density is 10.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period. The oldest remains of a boat ever found in Norway (the 2,500-year-old Haugvikbåten) was discovered in a bog in Sømna. Sømna has some of the best agriculture in the region. Dairy and beef cows as well as grains are produced in Sømna. There is also a dairy in Berg that produces milk and cheese.

• Name — Sømna • Former Name — Vik herred • Id Number — 1812 • County — Nordland • District — Helgeland • Capital — Vik i Helgeland • Established — 1 Jan 1901 • Preceded — Brønnøy Municipality • Disestablished — 1 Jan 1964 • Succeeded — Brønnøy Municipality • Established2 — 1 Jan 1977 • Preceded2 — Brønnøy Municipality • Population Demonym — Sømnværing • Language — Bokmål • Website — www.somna.kommune.no • Mayor — Gunder Strømberg • Mayor Party — LL • Mayor As Of — 2023 • Elevation Max M — 648.45 • Area Rank — 302 • Area Total Km2 — 195.19 • Area Land Km2 — 191.62 • Area Water Km2 — 3.57 • Area Water Percent — 1.8 • Population As Of — 2024 • Population Rank — 282 • Population Total — 1976 • Population Density Km2 — 10.1 • Population Increase — -3.5

• Illustration — View of the Sømna coast • Illustration — Sømna Church The new Vik Municipality was established on 1 January 1901 when it was separated from the large Brønnøy Municipality. The initial population of Vik Municipality was 2,731. In 1941, the municipality was renamed Sømna Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place. The following areas were merged to form a new, larger Brønnøy Municipality: • the town of Brønnøysund (population: 2,064) • all of Sømna Municipality (population: 2,347) • all of Brønnøy Municipality (population: 2,635) • all of Velfjord Municipality (population: 1,380) • the part of Bindal Municipality located in the Lande-Tosbotn area around the inner Bindalsfjorden (population: 296) This merger was short-lived because on 1 January 1977, all of the old Sømna Municipality (except the Hongsetbygda area) was removed from Brønnøy Municipality to become a separate Sømna Municipality once again. There were 2,107 residents in the newly recreated Sømna Municipality.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vik farm since the first Sømna Church was built there. The name is identical with the word which means "bay" or "inlet", here referring to the bay near the church that is now called Vikvågen. On 13 November 1940, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sømna starting on 1 December 1940. The new name was reminiscent of an old name for the area that was historically spelled as Sæmnese or Sørsøm. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it is possibly derived from the word non which means "wind" or "wave" or it could be derived from the word svefja which means a "quiet sleep".

The coat of arms was granted on 14 June 1991. The official blazon is "Gules, three trefoils argent in pall stems conjoined" (I rødt tre sølv kløverblad forent i trepass). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a group of three clover leaves (trefoils). The clover has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms symbolize agriculture, culture, and prosperity combined. The arms were designed by Rolf Tidemann.

The Church of Norway has one parish (no) within Sømna Municipality. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. Churches in Sømna Municipality • Parish (no) — Church name — Location of the church — Year built • Sømna — Sømna Church — Vik i Helgeland — 1876

The municipality of Sømna is mostly made up of the southern part of a peninsula off the mainland of Norway and the surrounding islands. It borders Brønnøy Municipality to the north by land and Bindal Municipality to the south and east by sea, across the Bindalsfjorden. Sømna consists mainly of a wide Strandflaten lowland (coastal brim), and is one of few municipalities in Northern Norway where the farmers still grow some grain. The highest point in the municipality is the 648.45 m tall mountain Lysingen, on the border with Brønnøy Municipality. Sømna has an oceanic climate with few temperature extremes, similar to Brønnøysund. However, Sømna has one national heat record: The warmest night ever recorded in Norway was July 29, 2019 at Sømna-Kvaløyfjellet (302 m) in Sømna with overnight low 26.1 °C.

• Illustration — Norwegian ferry • Illustration — Vennesund Harbour • Illustration — Agricultural area in Sømna

Sømna 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. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sømna Municipality 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.

The mayor (ordfører) of Sømna Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: • 1901–1902: Christen Heide Nielsen • 1902–1904: Jørgen Andreas Storvik (V) • 1905–1919: Markus Eliassen Sømhovd (V) • 1920–1922: Cornelius Enge (Ap) • 1923–1924: Peter Kopreitan (Bp) • 1924–1924: Albert Valberg (Bp) • 1925–1939: Cornelius Enge (Ap) • 1939–1941: Hartvig Hjelmseth (Ap) • 1942–1945: Trygve Sømhovd (NS) • 1945–1951: Hartvig Hjelmseth (Ap) • 1952–1955: Jonas Enge (Ap) • 1956–1963: Leif Grønmo (Ap) • (1964–1977: Sømna Municipality did not exist - it was part of Brønnøy Municipality) • 1977–1979: Gunnar Holand (Sp) • 1979–1983: Viktor Kolsvik (Sp) • 1983–1987: Gunnar Holand (Sp) • 1987–1991: Anne Cathrine Einarsen (Ap) • 1991–1999: Gunnar Holand (LL) • 1999–2015: Edmund Harald Dahle (Sp) • 2015–2015: Hans Gunnar Holand (Sp) • 2015–2019: Andrine Solli Oppegaard (Ap) • 2019–2023: Hans Gunnar Holand (Sp) • 2023–present: Gunder Strømberg (LL)

• August Nielsen (1877 in Vik at Sømna – 1956), an architect • Ludvig Enge (1878 in Vik i Helgeland – 1953), a civil servant and politician • Dag Skogheim (1928 in Sømna – 2015), a teacher, poet, novelist, short story writer, biographer, and non-fiction writer