At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the 319-square-kilometre (123 sq mi) municipality was the 269th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Vikna was the 216th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,578. The municipality's population density was 14.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (37/sq mi) and its population had increased by 11.4% over the last decade.[5][6]
General information
Ytre Vikna.
The municipality of Vikten was established on 1 July 1869 when it was separated from the large Nærøy Municipality. Initially, the population of Vikten Municipality was 1,749. On 1 January 1881, a small area of Fosnes Municipality (population: 61) was transferred to Vikten Municipality. The spelling of the name was later changed to Vikna Municipality.[7]
On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
On 1 January 2020, Vikna Municipality was merged with most of the neighboring Nærøy Municipality to form the new Nærøysund Municipality.[8] The Lund area of Nærøy Municipality was not part of the merger, however, instead it became part of the newly enlarged Namsos Municipality on the same date.[9]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named "Vikna". It was named after the three large islands which made up the municipality: Inner-Vikna, Mellom-Vikna, and Ytter-Vikna (Old Norse: Víkn). The name is derived from the word vík which means "cove" or "wick" (likely since the islands have numerous coves and inlets).[10] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Vikten. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Vikna.[11]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 13 May 1988 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, three salmon argentin annulo" (Norwegian: I blått tre sølv lakser som danner en sirkel). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three salmon forming a circle. The fish design has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to symbolize the importance of salmon fishing and farming in the municipality. The arms were designed by Torleif Flosand. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[12][13][14]
The municipality consisted of a large island archipelago with some 6,000 large and small islands going far into the Norwegian Sea off the northwestern coast of Trøndelag county. Vikna is the largest spawning area for cod south of Lofoten. The three largest islands are: Inner-Vikna, closest to the mainland, Mellom-Vikna, and then Ytter-Vikna as the westernmost island. Other islands include Borgan and Lauvøya. The highest point in the municipality was the 172.9-metre (567 ft) tall mountain Vattafjellet on the island of Ytter-Vikna.[1]
On 21 October 1962, the coastal steamer (Hurtigruten) Sanct Svithun run aground on Nordøyan as a result of navigational error. The ship sunk, and there was a tragic loss of 41 lives. A memorial bauta was raised on Nordøyan in 2002.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vikna was made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Vikna was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position:[33][34]
