Nord-Varanger Municipality

Nord-Varanger is a former municipality in Finnmark county in Norway. The 1253 km2 municipality existed from 1894 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Vadsø Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was in the town of Vadsø. Other notable villages included Ekkerøy, Kiby, Krampenes, Skallelv, Valen, and Vestre Jakobselv.

Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 1253.4 km2 municipality was the 65th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Nord-Varanger Municipality was the 515th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,617. The municipality's population density was 1.3 PD/km2.

History
The kjøpstad (market town) of Vadsø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The law stated that market towns must be separate municipalities from the rural municipalities around them, but because of the low population in the rural area around the town, the municipality originally included the whole rural area surrounding it. That rural area was known as the Vadsø landsogn (lit. 'Vadsø rural parish'). On 1 January 1894, the Vadsø landsogn was finally separated from the town of Vadsø and became a separate municipality named Nord-Varanger. Nord-Varanger had an initial population of 1,296. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Nord-Varanger (population: 1,587) was merged with the town of Vadsø once again to create the new Vadsø Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Varangerfjorden (Verangr or Verjangr). The first element is which is the plural genitive case of the word which means "fishing village". The last element is which means "bay" or "small fjord". It was first probably used for the narrow fjord on the inside of Angsnes which now is called "Meskfjorden" and leads into Varangerbotn. Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Nordvaranger. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nord-Varanger.

Geography
The municipality was located on the southern half of the Varanger Peninsula, east of the Jakobselva river, along the Varangerfjorden. The highest point in the municipality was the 633.85 m tall mountain Bealjáidčearru (also known as Skipskjølen in Norwegian), located on the northern border of the municipality.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Nord-Varanger:


 * 1894-1897: Thomas Hansen Lilleeng
 * 1898-1910: Abraham Pedersen Kiby
 * 1911-1916: Konrad Hansen
 * 1917-1925: O.E. Sundelin
 * 1925-1929: Ove Olsen
 * 1929-1942: Waldemar Harila
 * 1942-1945: E.M. Amundsen (NS)
 * 1946-1963: Henry Karlsen (Ap)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Nord-Varanger 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.