Leikanger

Leikanger (help·info) is a municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Hermansverk, which is also the administrative center of Sogn og Fjordane county.

The Leikanger/Hermansverk urban area has 2,035 inhabitants (2012), about 90% of the municipal population.^[2] This urban area is often called Systrond, which is why a person from Leikanger is often called Systrending.

General information

Map of present-day Leikanger

View of Systrond

Leikanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality was identical to the old Leikanger parish (prestegjeld) with the six sub-parishes (sokn) of Leikanger, Fresvik, Rinde, Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal. In 1849, the sub-parishes of Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal were transferred into the newly created Balestrand parish (prestegjeld). The new parish was separated from Leikanger municipality in 1850 to form the new Balestrand municipality. This split left Leikanger with 2,368 residents.^[3]

On 1 January 1964, the Hella-Eitorn area (population: 31) was transferred from Balestrand back to Leikanger. Also, the Tingstad area (population: 5) was transferred to neighboring Sogndal municipality. These changes left Leikanger with 2,680 residents. On 1 January 1992, the sub-parishes of Leikanger lying south of the Sognefjorden, including Feios and Fresvik (total population: 572) were transferred to the municipality of Vik. This move left Leikanger with only one sub-parish: Leikanger.^[3]^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Leikanger (Old Norse: Leikvangir), since the first Leikanger Church was built there. The first element is leikr which means "sports" or "athletics" and the last element is the plural form of vangr which means "meadow". Prior to 1889, the name was written Lekanger.^[5]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms were granted on 5 September 1963. The arms are green with a yellow-colored apple tree branch with two apples and three leaves attached. The apple tree branch is a symbol for the many orchards in the municipality and thus for the local economy. The three leaves symbolised the three parishes that used to make up the municipality (before two of them were transferred to Vik in 1992).^[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Leikanger. It is part of the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

**Churches in Leikanger**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Leikanger	Leikanger Church	Leikanger	1166

Government

View of the Kvinnafossen in western Leikanger

View of a small mountain farm

All municipalities in Norway, including Leikanger, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Leikanger is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to every four years. The current party breakdown is as follows:^[7]

*Leikanger Kommunestyre 2011–2015*
Party Name		Name in Norwegian	Number of representatives
	Labour Party	Arbeiderpartiet	7
	Conservative Party	Høgre	2
	Centre Party	Senterpartiet	3
	Socialist Left Party	Sosialistisk Venstreparti	2
	Liberal Party	Venstre	3
Total number of members:			17

Mayor

The mayor (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the municipal council who is elected either by the majority of the council or via direct elections. Olav Lunden of the Labour Party was re-elected mayor for the 2011-2015 term. He was first elected in 2003.

Geography

Leikanger is located on the north side of the Sognefjorden and to the east of the Fjærlandsfjorden. It is bordered on the north and east by the municipality of Sogndal, on the west by Balestrand, and on the south (across the Sognefjorden) by Vik.

View of the main village of Hermansverk/Leikanger in Leikanger municipality

Buildings and structures

East of Leikanger, there are the Sognefjord Spans, three powerline spans with length over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), which are currently the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th longest spans in the world. In 1955, the first Sognefjord Span was built near Leikanger. It was the longest span in the world from 1955 until 1997.

Sister cities/Twin towns

Leikanger has sister city agreements with the following places:

Ribe, Esbjerg Municipality, Denmark

References

↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2012). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality.".
↑ 3.0 3.1 Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
↑ Natvik, Oddvar (9 February 2005). "Some historical data on the 26 Kommunes". Retrieved 23 June 2008.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1919). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (12 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 124.
↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
↑ "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-07.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leikanger.

External links

Official Leikanger municipality website (Norwegian)
NRK: Leikanger (Norwegian)

v t e Municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane

Nordfjord	Bremanger Eid Gloppen Hornindal Selje Stryn Vågsøy

Sunnfjord	Askvoll Fjaler Flora Førde Gaular Jølster Naustdal

Sogn	Årdal Aurland Balestrand Gulen Høyanger Hyllestad Lærdal Leikanger Luster Sogndal Solund Vik

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