Ankenes


Ankenes is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1974. It encompassed most of the present-day Narvik Municipality, surrounding of the town of Narvik which was once its own municipality. The administrative centre of Ankenes was the village of Ankenesstrand, situated along the west side of the Beisfjorden, where the Ankenes Church is located.
Today, the name Ankenes is often used to refer to the suburban Ankenesstrand area, just outside the town of Narvik. The European route E6 highway is the main thoroughfare through Ankenes and it follows the shoreline of the Ofotfjorden and Beisfjorden and it then crosses the fjord over the long Beisfjord Bridge where it then reaches the town of Narvik.

History

The old municipality of Ofoten was established on 1 January 1838. Ofoten Municipality included all of the land surrounding the inner part of the Ofotfjorden, including the Ankenes area. On 1 January 1884, Ofoten Municipality was dissolved and split into two municipalities: Ankenes and Evindnæs. In 1901, the Narvik received town status as a kjøpstad. Soon after, on 1 January 1902, the new town of Narvik was separated from Ankenes to form a separate municipality. The split left Ankenes with a population of 3,023. On 1 January 1974, the municipality of Ankenes was merged with the town of Narvik to form a new, larger Narvik Municipality. Prior to the merger, Ankenes had 7,022 inhabitants and Narvik had 12,758.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Ankenes, are responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elects a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Ankenes was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Notable residents