Loppa

Most people live in the village of Øksfjord, but smaller communities are spread out along the shores and islands, notably Nuvsvåg, Sandland, Bergsfjord, Brynilen, and the island of Loppa. This island was previously the administrative centre of the municipality (hence the name). There is no airport, but Øksfjord is a port of call for the Hurtigruten boats.

General information

View of the village of Bergsfjord

View of Øksfjord Church

View near Øksfjord

The municipality of Loppa was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1858, the northern part of Loppa on the island of Sørøya and most of Loppa on Stjernøya (population: 506) was separated to form the new municipality of Hasvik. This left Loppa with 801 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.^[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the island of Loppa (Old Norse: Loppa), since it was the former centre of the municipality and the first church (Loppa Church) was located there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. Historically, the name was spelled Loppen.^[3]^[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 December 1980. The arms show a great black cormorant on a gold background. The cormorant was chosen as a symbol since the municipality has several typical fishing villages which often attract cormorants.^[5]^[6]

See also: coats-of-arms of Røst and Skjervøy

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Loppa. It is part of the Alta deanery in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Loppa**
Parish (sokn)	Name	Location	Year built
Loppa	Bergsfjord Church	Bergsfjord	1951
	Loppa Church	Loppa	1953
	Nuvsvåg Chapel	Nuvsvåg	1961
	Sandland Chapel	Sandland	1971
	Øksfjord Church	Øksfjord	1954

Geography

Loppa is the westernmost municipality of Finnmark and it faces the open stretch of the Norwegian Sea called Lopphavet, and it is mostly coastal with fjords and islands under the gigantic snowcap of the Øksfjordjøkelen glacier. The municipality includes most of the peninsula between the Kvænangen and the Altafjorden. There are also several islands in the municipality, notably Loppa, Silda, and part of Stjernøya. The mountains Lopptinden and Svartfjellet both lie in the municipality along with the glaciers Langfjordjøkelen, Øksfjordjøkelen, and Svartfjelljøkelen.

References

↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1924). Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (18 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 93–94.
↑ Store norske leksikon. "Loppa" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2013-01-09.
↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-12-11.
↑ "Kommunevåpen". Flags of the World. 28 June 2002. Retrieved 2008-12-11. External link in |publisher= (help)

External links

Media related to Loppa at Wikimedia Commons

Municipalities of Finnmark

Alta Båtsfjord Berlevåg Deatnu - Tana Gamvik Hammerfest Hasvik Karasjok Kautokeino Kvalsund Lebesby Loppa Måsøy Nesseby Nordkapp Porsanger Sør-Varanger Vadsø Vardø

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