Nome, Norway

Nome is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midt-Telemark and historically part of the Grenland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ulefoss. Other villages include Bjervamoen, Ulefoss, Helgja, Flåbygd, and Svenseid.

The 430 km2 municipality is the 230th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Nome is the 150th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 6,559. The municipality's population density is 17 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 1% over the previous 10-year period.

Nome is a large agricultural and forestry municipality. The agricultural area in Nome is approximately 27000 daa. Forest harvesting averaged 36000 m3 annually in the five-year period 2017–2021. Just over half was spruce, the rest was pine.

General information
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. The municipality of Nome was established on 1 January 1964 when the two neighboring municipalities of Holla (population: 4,093) and Lunde (population: 3,080) were merged. (Most of Holla became part of Nome. The Valebø part of Holla located east of the lake Norsjø became part of Skien Municipality on that date.)

Name
The municipality is named after the Nomevatnet lake which is at the start of the river Eidselva. The meaning of the name is uncertain. It may be related to the first element in the name Numedal.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 10 March 1989. The official blazon is "Per bend sinistre dancetty argent and azure" (Venstre skrådelt av sølv og blått ved trappesnitt). This means the arms are divided with a diagonal line that is dancetty (in the shape of steps). The field (background) below the line has a tincture of blue. Above the line, the field 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 design is meant to represent the Telemark Canal and its locks to raise and lower boats. The canal was built in the 19th century and it runs through the municipality, connecting the lake Bandak to the North Sea. The arms were designed by Øyvind Larsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Nome. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Romnes Church (Romnes kirke) is a Romanesque stone church that was built between 1150 and 1250. The church was constructed of stone joined with lime, while the corners consist of limestone. The apse and nave has a flat ceiling, while the choir has vaulted wood ceilings. The entrance portal to the west is of decorated stone. The church also had an entrance on the south wall in the choir. The pulpit and baroque altarpiece are from the 1700s. The square bell tower dates to the end of the 1800s. The church currently has curved red bricks on the roof. During the restoration in 1921, murals from the late Middle Ages were restored. Additional restoration was conducted between 1966 and 1967.

Government
Nome 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 Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Nome is made up of 21 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 Nome (incomplete list):
 * 1970-1973: Jens Hvilen (Ap)
 * 1999-2011: Jan Thorsen (Sp)
 * 2011–2023: Bjørg Tveito Lundefaret (Ap)
 * 2023-present: Linda Therese Thorstensen (Ap)

Notable people

 * Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (1815 in Ulefoss – 1870), a Norwegian composer
 * August Cappelen (1827–1852), a painter of melancholic, dramatic, and romantic landscapes who was brought up in Holla
 * Gisle Straume (1917 in Holla – 1988), an actor and theatre director
 * Inge Grødum (born 1943 in Ulefoss), an illustrator
 * Knut Ragnar Mikkelsen (born 1951 in Lunde), a police chief
 * Odd Einar Haugen (born 1954 in Lunde), a University of Bergen professor of Old Norse philology
 * Liv Mildrid Gjernes (born 1954 in Lunde), an artist; eponym for a contemporary style of decoration, sculpture, and furniture design - Gjernes
 * Atle Skårdal (born 1966 in Lunde), a former World Cup and Olympic alpine ski racer
 * Jon Anders Halvorsen (born 1968 in Lunde), a folk singer and physician
 * Erland Dahlen (born 1971 in Ulefoss), a drummer and percussionist
 * Torun Eriksen (born 1977 in Lunde), a jazz singer