Vevelstad is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Forvik. The municipality is relatively small and isolated, with no road connections to the rest of Norway. It is only accessible by ferry, despite much of the municipality being located on the mainland. The 539 km2 municipality is the 198th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Vevelstad is the 352nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 480. The municipality's population density is 0.9 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Vevelstad was established on 1 July 1916 when it was separated from Tjøtta Municipality. Initially, the municipality had 1,097 residents. On 1 July 1920, the Giskå farm area (population: 10) was transferred from Tjøtta Municipality to Vevelstad Municipality. The borders have not changed since that time.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vevelstad farm, since the first Vevelstad Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the Old Norse male name Vifill and the last element is the plural form of which means "homestead" or "farm", therefore it means "Vifill's homestead".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 13 November 1991. The official blazon is "Azure, three inverted couped chevrons argent, two and one". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three V-shaped figures (two over one). The V-shapes have a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms are canting, showing the first letter of the name of the municipality, V. The municipality applied for arms in the 1970s, but all the proposals were rejected by either the municipal council or the National Archives. Finally, the present arms were adopted and granted in 1991. The arms were designed by Odd P. Olsen.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Vevelstad Municipality. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography

The municipality lies in the middle of Norway, surrounded by mountains and fjords. A lot of the municipality is a part of Lomsdal–Visten National Park. The lake Søre Vistvatnet lies in the southeastern part of the municipality inside the national park. Most of the residents live along the coastline or on the island Hamnøya. The mouth of the Velfjorden lies in the southern part of the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the 1239.2 m tall mountain Vistkjerringa on the border with Vefsn Municipality.

Government

Vevelstad 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 Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vevelstad is made up of 13 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 Vevelstad 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:

Notable people