Grong


is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Medjå. Other villages in the municipality include Bergsmoen, Formofoss, Gartland, and Harran.
The municipality is the 96th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Grong is the 262nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,359. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Grong was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1901, the northwestern district of Grong was separated to form the new municipality of Høylandet. On 1 January 1923, the large municipality of Grong was divided into four smaller municipalities: Grong in the southwest, Harran in the centre, Røyrvik in the northeast, and Namsskogan in the northwest.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Harran and Grong were merged to form a new municipality called Grong.
On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Grong farm, since the first Grong Church was built there. The first element is grǫn which means "spruce" and the last element is the plural form of the suffix -ungr.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 6 February 1987. The arms show three green triangles on a silver/gray background. The green triangles represent spruce trees , making them canting arms since the name is supposedly derived from Granungar which means spruce. The number three symbolizes the three main villages in the municipality: Harran, Bergsmoen, and Medjå.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Grong. It is part of the Namdal prosti in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Parish Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
GrongGrong ChurchMedjå1877
HarranHarran ChurchHarran1874
HarranGløshaug ChurchGartland1689

Geography

Grong is located along the river Namsen in the Namdalen valley. Two major tributaries of the Namsen flow through Grong too: the river Sanddøla and the river Neselva. The Bangsjøene lakes lie at the extreme southern border with Snåsa and Overhalla. The Blåfjella–Skjækerfjella National Park covers a small part of the southeastern part of Grong.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Grong, 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 elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Namdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Grong is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Grong :
The European route E6 highway follows the river Namsen across the municipality, as does the Nordland Line. The two main stations on the Nordland Line are Grong Station in Medjå and Harran Station in Harran. The old Namsos Line railway used to run from Grong to Namsos, but that is now closed.

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