Skånland

Skånland is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Tjeldsund Municipality. It was part of the Central Hålogaland region, just southeast of the city of Harstad. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Evenskjer. Other villages included Grovfjord, Renså, Sandstrand, and Tovik.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 495 km2 municipality was the 210th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Skånland Municipality was the 264th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,009. The municipality's population density was 6.1 PD/km2 and its population had increased by 5.9% over the previous 10-year period.

The Tjeldsund Bridge in Skånland connects the island of Hinnøya (the largest coastal island in Norway) to the Norwegian mainland.

General information
Skånland Municipality was established on 1 July 1926 when the large Trondenes Municipality was divided into three municipalities: Sandtorg Municipality (population: 4,224) in the southwest, Skånland Municipality (population: 2,443) in the southeast, and Trondenes Municipality (population: 3,429) in the north. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboringAstafjord Municipality (population: 1,120) was merged into Skånland. On the same date, the part of Skånland on the island of Rolla (population: 143) was transferred to the neighboring Ibestad Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, Skånland Municipality was merged into the neighboring Tjeldsund Municipality, the new merged municipality became part of Troms county (since Tjeldsund was in Nordland county and Skånland was in Troms county prior to the merger).

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Skånland farm (Skánøyjarland) since this was where the first Skånland Church was built in 1870. The first element is the genitive case of an old name for the area (Skánøy). The meaning of this name is uncertain, but it may be of Sami origin, meaning "small mountains" (skánit). The last element is which means "land" or "farm".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 19 August 1988 and it was used until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Or an auger drill sable" (I gull en svart navar). This means the arms have a field (background) with a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is an auger with a tincture of sable. The auger was chosen for the design in order to represent boat building, an industry with long roots in the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

Churches
The Church of Norway had three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Skånland. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Economy
Agriculture was important in Skånland. There were also many people who worked in Harstad or at the nearby Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes.

Geography
The municipality included the western and northern part of the Ofoten peninsula, which is bordered by Ofotfjord in the south, Tjeldsundet in the west, and the Astafjorden and Vågsfjorden in the north. Skånland Municipality was located north of Evenes Municipality, northwest of Narvik Municipality, and east of Tjeldsund Municipality (all three were in the neighboring Nordland county). Harstad Municipality was located to the northwest (across the Tjeldsundet) and Gratangen Municipality was to the northeast (both were located in Troms county). The village of Evenskjer, located in the lowland bordering the Tjeldsundet strait, was the largest village. In the northern part of Skånland was the smaller village of Grov. Other villages were Renså, Tovik and Sandstrand.

The largest lake was Skoddebergvatnet, and the highest mountain was Skittendalstinden at 1306 m in the mountainous center of the peninsula. There were calcareous pine forests near Skoddebergvatnet. The lake Niingsvatnet was located on the border with Evenes. The highest point in the municipality is the 1305.9 m tall mountain Skittendalstinden.

Government
While it existed, Skånland 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 Trondenes District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Skånland was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Skånland:


 * 1926-1945: Albert Isaksen
 * 1945-1945: Tonning Larsen
 * 1946-1947: Robert Mathisen
 * 1948-1958: Martin Svendsen
 * 1958-1959: Sigvart Isaksen
 * 1960-1963: Herleif Grøneng
 * 1964-1967: Peder Ellefsen
 * 1968-1975: Herleif Grøneng
 * 1976-1979: Aage Olsen
 * 1980-1991: Odd Nilssen (Ap)
 * 1992-1997: Håkon Walter Brox (H)
 * 1997-2002: Terje Fjordbakk (Sp)
 * 2002-2011: Svein Berg (Ap)
 * 2011–2015: Einar Aune (H)
 * 2015–2019: Helene Berg Nilsen (Ap)