Tjeldsund

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Tjeldsund kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms of Tjeldsund kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Tjeldsund kommune
Nordland within
Norway
Tjeldsund within Nordland
Tjeldsund within Nordland
Coordinates: 68°29′4″N 16°17′33″E / 68.48444, 16.2925
Country Norway
County Nordland
District Hålogaland
Municipality ID NO-1852
Administrative centre Kongsvik
Government
 - Mayor (2003) Bjørnar Pettersen (H)
Area (Nr. 270 in Norway)
 - Total 317 km² (122.4 sq mi)
 - Land 309 km² (119.3 sq mi)
Population (2004)
 - Total 1,448
 - Density 5/km² (12.9/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) -8.3 %
 - Rank in Norway 373
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form Bokmål
Data from Statistics Norway
Website: www.tjeldsund.kommune.no

Tjeldsund is a municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway.

Tjeldsund was separated from Lødingen in 1909.

Norges Brannskole (The Norwegian education and training center for firemen) is located in the Municipality.

[edit] The name

The municipality is named after the strait Tjeldsundet between Tjeldøya and Hinnøya. The first element is the old (uncompounded) Norse name of Tjeldøya (*Tjöld or *Tjalda), the last element is sund n 'strait, sound'. The name of the island is probably derived from tjald n 'tent' or tjaldr m 'oystercatcher' (Haematopus ostralegus).

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern Hello times (1990). It shows an Anthony's cross (to represent the letter T).