Andørja Municipality

Andørja is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The 135 km2 municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 1964. The area now makes up the northeastern half of Ibestad Municipality. It encompassed the entire island of Andørja plus a number of other small islands and skerries surrounding it. The administrative centre was located at Engenes where the Andørja Church was also located.

Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 135.4 km2 municipality was the 455th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Andørja Municipality was the 558th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,343. The municipality's population density was 9.9 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Andørja was established on 1 July 1926 when the large Ibestad Municipality was separated into four municipalities: Ibestad Municipality (population: 1,768), Andørja Municipality (population: 1,420), Astafjord Municipality (population: 1,018), and Gratangen Municipality (population: 1,967). 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 merger where Andørja Municipality (population: 1,330) and Ibestad Municipality (population: 1,821) were merged with the part of neighboring Skånland Municipality that was located on the island of Rolla (population: 134) to form the new, larger Ibestad Municipality.

Name
The municipality is named after the island of Andørja (Andyrja). The meaning of the name is not certain, but one theory is that the first element and which means "against". The last element is yrja which means "gravel" or "rocks", possibly referring to the waves from the sea hitting against the rocky shores.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Andørja Municipality. It was part of the Ibestad prestegjeld and the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Geography
The highest point in the municipality is the 1275.9 m tall mountain Langlitinden.

Government
While it existed, Andørja Municipality was 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 was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Andørja was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayor (ordfører) of Andørja was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:


 * 1926-1928: Magnus Ånstad (NSA)
 * 1929-1931: Tollef J. Danielsen (Ap)
 * 1932-1941: Magnus Ånstad (Ap)
 * 1941-1942: Edvin Lynghaug (NS)
 * 1942-1945: Sigurd Hammer (NS)
 * 1945-1945: Magnus Ånstad (Ap)
 * 1946-1951: Sigurd Hammer (H)
 * 1952-1959: Karl Berg (Ap)
 * 1960-1963: Sigurd Hammer (KrF)