Hadsel is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stokmarknes. Some of the main villages in Hadsel include Fiskebøl, Jarstad, Grønning, Grytting, Hanøyvika, Hennes, Kaldjorda, Melbu, Sanden, and Sandnes. The municipality is the southernmost municipality in the Vesterålen region. It is spread over several main islands: Hadseløya, Børøya, Hinnøya, Langøya, and Austvågøya. About 70% of the population live on Hadseløya island. Hadseløya island is connected to Langøya by the Hadsel Bridge and Børøy Bridge. Also, the Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen, is located nearby. It is the busiest small aircraft airport in Norway, serving 100,000 passengers annually (1997). The 567 km2 municipality is the 191st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Hadsel is the 130th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,236. The municipality's population density is 14.5 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 1.5% over the previous 10-year period.

History

Hadsel was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The northern district of Hadsel was separated in 1841 to form the new Sortland Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the Indre Eidsfjord district of Hadsel (population: 1,360) was transferred to Sortland Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hadsel farm since the first Hadsel Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of which means "high and steep cliff" or "head". The last element is which means "sail". (A cliff near the farm has been compared in form to a sail.)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 11 March 1976. The official blazon is "Azure, four annulets Or, two and two". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is four rings (two over two). The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of sea for this island municipality. The four rings represent the four main islands of that make up Hadsel: Hadseløya, Austvågøya, Hinnøya, and Langøya. The arms were designed by Øystein Bottolfsen.

Churches

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

Geography

The municipality is located upon four main islands in the Vesterålen archipelago: Hinnøya, Langøya, Hadseløya, and Austvågøya, plus the small islands of Børøya and Brottøya. The 1135.8 m tall mountain Higravtindan is the highest point in the municipality. It is located on the border with Vågan Municipality and it is one of the tallest mountains in the whole region. Sortland Municipality lies to the north, Bø Municipality lies to the west, Vågan Municipality lies to the south, and Lødingen Municipality lies to the east. Part of the municipality is called Innlandet (lit. 'the inland'), and this area includes the villages of Kaldjorda, Hennes, Kvitnes, Kvantoelv, and Fiskfjord.

Climate

Hadsel has a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc). The warmest temperature recorded is 29 °C in July 2014. The coldest temperature recorded is -14.4 °C in March 2019. Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen in Hadsel has recorded temperature since June 1972. Data for extremes available since 2004, there might be warmer or colder temperatures recorded before 2004.

Economy

In Spring 2022, a company started mining of cryptocurrency at the company's facility in Stokmarknes; however, that activity had ended by Q3 2024. The facility [was using] around 40% of the power consumed in the whole municipality, heavily impacting the local electric grid.

Government

Hadsel Municipality is 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 Midtre Hålogaland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hadsel is made up of 25 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 Hadsel 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 (incomplete list):

Notable people