Nesna


Nesna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesna. Other villages in Nesna include Handnesneset, Husby, Saura, and Vikholmen.
The municipality consists of the three islands Tomma, Hugla, and Handnesøya, and one peninsula that bears the name of the municipality, Nesna. The old Husby Estate is headquartered in Husby on Tomma island.
The Coastal Express arrives two times a day at the village of Nesna, the northbound arrives 05:30 and the southbound 11:15. The village of Nesna is also home to Nordland's education center Nesna University College, and there is also the KVN High School, and Nesna Church.
The municipality is the 309th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Nesna is the 295th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,761. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 1.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Nesna was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The western island district of Nesna was separated from Nesna on 1 July 1888 to form the new municipality of Dønnes. This left Nesna with 2,958 residents. On 1 January 1919, the Bardalssjøen farm was transferred from Hemnes Municipality to Nesna Municipality. In 1945, a small area of southern Nesna was transferred to Leirfjord Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, part of the island of Løkta was transferred from Nesna to the new Dønna Municipality and part of the island of Tomma was transferred from the old municipality of Dønnes to Nesna Municipality. Then on 1 January 1964, the Bardalssjøen area of Nesna, located south of the Ranfjorden, was transferred to Leirfjord Municipality. On that same date, the part of Nesna around the inner part of the Sjona fjord was transferred to Rana Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Nesna farm, since the first Nesna Church was built there. The name is derived from the word nes which means "headland". The name was historically spelled Nesne.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 23 June 1989. The arms are a canting of the name of the municipality because they show a yellow-colored "headland" or peninsula surrounded by blue water.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within the municipality of Nesna. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
Parish Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
NesnaNesna ChurchNesna1880
NesnaHandnesøya ChapelSaura1969
NesnaHusby ChapelHusby1905

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Nesna, 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 Rana District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

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

Notable residents