Lavangen

Lavangen (Northern Sami: Loabák) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tennevoll. Other villages in Lavangen include Fossbakken and Spansdalen (in the inland areas) and Kjeiprød, Røkenes, Låternes, Tennevoll, Hesjevika, Soløy, and Å (surrounding the fjord).

General information

Lavangen was established on 1 January 1907 when it was separated from the municipality of Ibestad. The initial population was 1,536. On 1 January 1964, Lavangen was merged into the neighboring municipality of Salangen. The merger was brief, however, because on 1 January 1977, the old Lavangen municipality (except for the Lavangsnes area) was made a separate municipality once again.

Name

The municipality is named after the fjord (Old Norse: Laufangr). The first element is lauf which means "leaf" (here in the sense of 'birchwood') and the last element is angr which means "fjord".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). The arms are a canting of the name (which means leaf) since it shows three gold-colored birch leaves on a red background. The three leaves represent how the municipality was settled by Norwegians, Samis, and Kvens.

Å, Lavangen

Å is a village in the municipality of Lavangen in Troms county, Norway. The village is located along the northern shore of the Lavangen about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the administrative centre of Tennevoll and about 52 kilometres (32 mi) east of the city of Harstad.

The population (2001) of the village was 79. The southern part of the village area is called Soløy, and that is the location of Lavangen Church.

The name

The village (originally a farm) was first mentioned in 1610 ("Aa"). The name is from Old Norse á, which means "(small) river"

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Lavangen (fjord)

Lavangen or Lavangsfjorden (Northern Sami: Loabákvuotna) is a fjord in the municipalities of Lavangen and Salangen in Troms county, Norway. The majority of the fjord is in Lavangen municipality (hence the name of the municipality). The 17-kilometre (11 mi) long fjord flows to the northwest and empties into the larger Astafjorden. The deepest point in the fjord reaches about 202 metres (663 ft) below sea level. The village of Tennevoll lies at the end of the fjord and the village of Å lies on the northern shore.

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