or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsnes, Sjønstå, Valnesfjord, Finneid, and Sulitjelma. The municipality borders Sweden in the east, Sørfold Municipality to the north, Bodø Municipality to the west, and Saltdal Municipality to the southeast. The town is located on the northern shore of Skjerstad Fjord. The 1197 km2 municipality is the 90th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Fauske is the 116th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,827. The municipality's population density is 8.2 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 2.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 1905 when the old, large Skjerstad Municipality was divided into a smaller Skjerstad Municipality (population: 1,709) in the west and Fauske Municipality (population: 4,646) in the east. The municipal borders haven't changed since that time. In 1998, the municipality declared town status for its administrative centre, the town of Fauske.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fauske farm since the first Fauske Church was built there in 1867. The name is the plural form of fauskr which means "old and rotten tree". On 15 April 2016, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: Fuossko. The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called Fuossko when it is spelled alone, but it is Fuosko suohkan when using the Sami language equivalent to "Fauske municipality".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 22 July 1988. The official blazon is "Argent, a reef knot gules". This means the arms have a field (background) that has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a red reef knot. It was chosen to represent Fauske as a center of commerce and transportation for the region. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within Fauske Municipality. It is part of the Salten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Nature

There are two large glaciers in Fauske: Blåmannsisen and the Sulitjelma Glacier; covering about 14% of the municipality. The highest mountain in the municipality is Suliskongen at 1907 m above sea level. There are many lakes in the municipality, such as Blåmannsisvatnet, Kjelvatnet, Låmivatnet, Langvatnet, Muorkkejávrre, Nedrevatnet, Øvrevatnet, and Vuolep Sårjåsjávrre. Junkerdal National Park and Sjunkhatten National Park are partly located in Fauske. Sulitjelma, located 44 km by road east of Fauske, is a good starting point for hiking in the mountains and hikes to the glaciers. There are several DNT lodges in this area. There are many nature reserves in the municipality, such as Veten nature reserve with calcareous pine forest and a rich understory and Fauskeeidet wetland area with rich bird life and observation tower. There are several caves in the municipality. The fairly easy accessible Svarthamarhola (Svarthamar cave) is one of the largest caves in northern Europe, also hosting one of the world's most northerly bat colonies.

Climate

Fauske is located inside the Arctic Circle and has 24 hours of daylight from early May to the beginning of August, with midnight sun from the beginning of June to the second week of July. The area nearly has polar night for part of December because it has sunrise at 11 am and sunset before noon. Average 24-hour temperatures in Fauske is below freezing from mid-November to the last part of March, but the ice-free Skjerstad Fjord moderates winter temperatures. Summer starts in June with moderate summer temperatures lasting until early September. Precipitation is heaviest from September to December (usually as snow in December); average annual precipitation is 1040 mm. Daytime temperatures are usually significantly warmer than the 24-hr average from March to September, while there is very little diurnal temperature variation from November to early February as the sun is very low or below the horizon all day. However, temperatures varies considerably with the weather; there might be cool westerly winds with temperatures of 10 C and rain both night and day in July, and the next day might be sunny with daytime temperature reaching 25 C. Southwesterly winds can bring thaws anytime in winter, but not in the mountains, which usually get large amounts of snow in winter—the main reason for the large glaciers and the hydropower in the area.

Government

Fauske Municipality responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Salten og Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fauske is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor of Fauske is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

Economy

Manufacturing, mining and working in quarries employs 9% of the work force (as of 2021). Several marble quarries are located in the municipality. The marble is exported to many countries, where it can be observed in many monumental buildings, among them the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. There are also dolomite quarries in Fauske, as well as some agriculture. Case work for permission for renewed mining in Sulitjelma, has been going on since the early 2010s; mining there was discontinued in 1991. Historically, there was a very productive mine at Jakobsbakken. Salten Kraftsamband and Fauske Lysverk are important employers in Fauske. The town is a commercial centre for parts of the inland areas of Salten, and has hotel and camping facilities. FK Fauske/Sprint is the local soccer team. Historically, mining in Sulitjelma was very important.

Transportation

The Nordland Line passes through the municipality, reaching Bodø west of Fauske. Travellers going further north usually leave the train in Fauske, and travel by express bus to Narvik or further, using European route E6 which goes through the center of Fauske. The E6 from Mo i Rana north to Fauske crosses over the Saltfjellet mountains, and the E6 further north to Narvik also goes through very rugged terrain; these are among the most scenic drives in Norway, although there are many tunnels going through Sørfold Municipality. The Norwegian national road Rv 80 to Bodø, about 62 km to the west, departs from E6 in the centre of Fauske. The Norwegian County Road 830 runs from the town of Fauske to the east to the village of Sulitjelma. The road passes through several tunnels: Grønnlifjell Tunnel, Hårskolten Tunnel, Sjønståfjell Tunnel, and Stokkviknakken Tunnel. The road follows the old Sulitjelma Line railroad.

Notable people

Sport