Sørreisa

Sørreisa is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skøelva, and Smørsgård.

The 363 km2 municipality is the 248th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sørreisa is the 218th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,428. The municipality's population density is 9.9 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 0.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Sørreisen was established on 1 September 1886 when the large Tranøy Municipality was divided into three: Tranøy Municipality (population: 1,239) in the west, Dyrøy Municipality (population: 1,281) in the south, and Sørreisen Municipality (population: 1,361) in the east. Later, the spelling was changed to Sørreisa. 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 Sørreisa Municipality across the Reisafjorden on the island of Senja (population: 129) was transferred to Lenvik Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county. On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Reisafjorden (Reisa). The fjord was named after the river Reisaelva which flows into the fjord. The river name is derived from the verb which means "to raise" (referring to flooding). The prefix (meaning "southern") was added to the name to distinguish the municipality from the nearby Nordreisa Municipality to the north. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sørreisen. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sørreisa.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 7 September 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, three six-pointed mullets Or" (I rødt 3 seksoddete gull stjerner, to over en). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is three six-pointed stars. Each star has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms were designed by Ottar Jarl Myrvang. The design was inspired by the oldest seal preserved from Sørreisa. The seal belonged to the local politician Jacob Hansen Kinapel who was a policeman in Sørreisa from 1715 to 1748. His heptagonal 18th century seal shows his initials IHSK around three stars, an eight-pointed star in the centre over two six-pointed stars.

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

Geography
Sørreisa is located on the western coast of Norway, along the Reisafjorden, just east of the large island of Senja. The 363 km2 municipality is mostly populated along the shoreline. Dyrøy Municipality lies to the west, Salangen Municipality and Bardu Municipality are to the south, Målselv Municipality is to the east, and Senja Municipality is to the north.

Climate
Sørreisa has continental subarctic climate. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfc". The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has been operating a weather station in Sørreisa for many years.

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 Nord-Troms og Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sørreisa is made up of 19 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 of Sørreisa:


 * 1886–1888: Jacob Moe
 * 1889–1907: Johan Jørgensen
 * 1908–1925: Ingvald Andersen (V)
 * 1926–1928: Hans Nordgård
 * 1929–1940: Kristian Simonsen (Ap)
 * 1942–1945: Oliver Krogstad (NS)
 * 1945–1952: Kristian Simonsen (Ap)
 * 1953–1969: Thoralf Dalseth (Ap)
 * 1970–1982: Arnold W. Johansen (Ap)
 * 1982–1991: Kjell Bakkland (Ap)
 * 1992–1999: Paul Dahlø (Ap)
 * 1999–2007: Magnor Olsen (Ap)
 * 2007–2011: Knut H. Olsen (H)
 * 2011–2015: Paul Dahlø (Ap)
 * 2015–present: Jan-Eirik Nordahl (Ap)



Notable people

 * Amalie Øvergaard (1874 in Sørreisa – 1960) a Norwegian women's leader
 * Berger Torrissen (1901 in Sørreisa – 1991) an American skier, competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics for the USA
 * Willy Ovesen (1924 in Sørreisa – 2015) a Norwegian civil servant, director of the Norwegian Tax Administration from 1982 to 1994
 * Herborg Finnset (born 1961 in Sørreisa) a Norwegian prelate of the Church of Norway and the Bishop of Nidaros from 2018
 * Tore Rismo (born 1961 in Sørreisa) a retired Norwegian football midfielder
 * Siri Pettersen (born 1971) a Norwegian writer and comics creator, brought up in Sørreisa