Gáivuotna - Kåfjord
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| Gáivuona suohkan Kåfjord kommune |
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 69°27′14″N 20°45′46″E / 69.45389°N 20.76278°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
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| County | Troms | ||
| Municipality ID | NO-1940 | ||
| Administrative centre | Olderdalen | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor (2003) | Bjørn Inge Mo (Ap) | ||
| Area (Nr. 106 in Norway) | |||
| - Total | 991 km2 (382.6 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 950 km2 (366.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| - Total | 2,332 | ||
| - Density | 2/km2 (5.2/sq mi) | ||
| - Change (10 years) | -13.9 % | ||
| - Rank in Norway | 315 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål and Sami | ||
| Demonym | Kåfjording [1] | ||
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| Website | www.kafjord.kommune.no | ||
Gáivuotna (Northern Sami) or Kåfjord (Norwegian language), (also Finnish: Kaivuono) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Olderdalen. Kåfjord was separated from the municipality of Lyngen on 1 July 1930.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
Kåfjord is a Norwegianized form of the Sámi name Gáivuotna. The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is vuotna which means "fjord".
The name of the municipality was Kåfjord until 1994, when it was changed to Gáivuotna-Kåfjord[2] It was the fifth municipality in Norway to get a Sami name. In 2005, the name was again changed such that either the Sami Gáivuotna or the Norwegian Kåfjord name can be used.[3]
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from 1865. It shows a silver spinning wheel on a red background.
[edit] History
In 1945, the villages of Kåfjord were burned to the ground during the retreat of German forces from Finland and Finnmark. This was as far west as the Wehrmacht used their scorched earth tactics.
[edit] Geography
The municipality is situated on the eastern side of the Lyngen fjord, and around its eastern arm, the Kåfjord. The municipal centre is Olderdalen. Other villages include Birtavarre, Kåfjorddalen, Djupvik, Nordmannvik, and Manndalen, where the international indigenous peoples' festival Riddu Riđđu is hosted each year.
[edit] Economy
Fishing and small-scale farming have been the most important sources of income. Now many people work in education and other public services. The population has declined for many years, but the decline is now less rapid than earlier. A new optimism has arisen among young people, largely due to the increasing cultural activities.
[edit] Population
The minority of the population is of Sami origin. Due to assimilation pressure from the Norwegian State, the language was largely lost in the 20th century. Now efforts are being made to reintroduce the Sami languages, largely concentrated in the municipality's largest village, Manndalen.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskriving_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn.
- ^ "Ot.prp. nr. 111 (2001-2002)". regjeringen.no. http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fad/dok/regpubl/otprp/20012002/Otprp-nr-111-2001-2002-.html?id=125740. Retrieved on 2008-12-2. (Norwegian)
- ^ "Endring av skrivemåten for tospråklige kommunenavn". http://www.lovdata.no/cgi-wift/wiztldles?doc=/usr/www/lovdata/for/lf/ov/ov-20041210-1636.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-2. (Norwegian)
[edit] External links
Media related to Kåfjord at Wikimedia Commons
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