Hattfjelldal

or 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.

The 2684 km2 municipality is the 20th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hattfjelldal is the 313th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,278. The municipality's population density is 0.5 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 13.1% over the previous 10-year period.

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 municipality of Vefsn. The initial population of Hattfjelldal 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 Røssvatnet (population: 168) was transferred to the neighboring Hemnes Municipality.

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 which means "hat" and the word  which means "mountain". The last element of the name is the definite form of the word which means "valley" or "dale". Thus it is the "hat-shaped mountain valley". Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Hatfjelddalen. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to  	Hatfjelldalen (removing one "d"). On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hatfjelldal (removing the definite form ending). On 29 January 1926, the spelling was changed again, this time by adding a "t" to make it Hattfjelldal.

On 14 June 2019, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: Aarborte. 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".

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" (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.

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

Geography
Hattfjelldal lies along the Swedish border in the southeastern part of Nordland county. The lake Røssvatnet (Reevhtse) lies on the border between Hattfjelldal and Hemnes, and it serves as a reservoir. It has been the site of human occupation since the Stone Age. Its area of 219 km2 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, 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.

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. 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 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Hattfjelldal (incomplete list):


 * 1913-1916: Peter Olsen Bolstad (Ap)
 * Bjarne Aaslid
 * 1970-1977: Karl Ingebrigtsen (Ap)
 * Herlaug Granås
 * 1996-2000: Terje Daleng (Sp)
 * 2000-2015: Asgeir Almås (Ap)
 * 2015-2023: Harald Lie (Sp)
 * 2023–present: Sølvi Andersen (Ap)

Notable people

 * Anders K. Orvin (1889–1980) a Norwegian geologist and explorer
 * Anna Jacobsen (1924–2004), champion of Southern Sami language and culture
 * Karl Ingebrigtsen (born 1935) a Norwegian politician