Talvik Municipality

Talvik or Talvig is a former municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The 1,650-square-kilometre (640 sq mi) municipality existed for 101 years, from 1863 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included all the coastal areas in the outer Altafjorden in the northern part of what is now Alta Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Talvik where the Talvik Church is located. Other notable villages in the municipality included Komagfjord, Langenes, Langfjordbotn, and Leirbotn.^[6]

Talvik Municipality Talvik herred
Former municipality
Talvig herred  (historic name)
View of the village (c. 1852)
Finnmark within Norway
Talvik within Finnmark
Coordinates: 70°02′32″N 22°56′59″E
Country	Norway
County	Finnmark
District	Vest-Finnmark
Established	1863
• Preceded by	Alten-Talvig Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Alta Municipality
Administrative centre	Talvik
Government
• Mayor (1959-1963)	Thorleif Johansen (Ap)
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	1,650 km2 (640 sq mi)
• Rank	#36 in Norway
Highest elevation [1]	1,149 m (3,770 ft)
Population  (1963)
• Total	3,378
• Rank	#268 in Norway
• Density	2/km2 (5/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Talvikværing Taviking[2]
Official language [3]
• Norwegian form	Neutral[4]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-2013[5]
Data from Statistics Norway

Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 1,650-square-kilometre (640 sq mi) municipality was the 36th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Talvik Municipality was the 268th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 3,378 (in 1963). The municipality's population density was 2 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.2/sq mi).^[7][8]

History

The municipality was established in 1863, when the large Alten-Talvig Municipality was dissolved and it was divided into two separate municipalities: Talvik Municipality (population: 1,938) in the north and Alta Municipality (population: 2,442) in the south. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Talvik (population: 3,266) and Alta (population: 6,629) were merged to form a new, larger Alta Municipality.^[9]

Name

The municipality is named after the old Talvik farm since the first Talvik Church was built there. The first element of the name is rather uncertain. If the first element was of Old Norse origin then it is derived from the word Þelli which means "pine" (due to the large number of pine trees in the area). The other explanation is that it is a corruption of the Northern Sami word Dálbme or the longer name Dálbmeluokta which translates as "fog" or "fog bay". The early Norwegian settlers would have translated that as tåkebukta (meaning "fog bay") and this could have been corrupted from tåke to tal. The last element of the name is vík which means "inlet" or "cove". Historically, the name was spelled Talvig using the old Danish spelling, and later it was "Norwegianized" to Talvik.^[6][10]

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Talvik. It was part of the Talvik prestegjeld and the Alta prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Churches in Talvik

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Talvik	Talvik Church	Talvik	1883
	Komagfjord Chapel	Komagfjord	1960
	Langfjord Chapel	Langfjordbotn	1891
	Leirbotn Chapel	Leirbotn	1935*
Note: Leirbotn Chapel burned down in 1990 and it was rebuilt in 1993.

Geography

The municipality was located along the outer Altafjorden. The municipality also included the southern parts of the islands of Seiland and Stjernøya. The highest point was the 1,149-metre (3,770 ft) tall mountain Store Haldi, located on the border with Alta Municipality to the south.^[1]

Government

While it existed, Talvik Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[11] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Talvik (incomplete list):^[12]

• 1864-1865: Gerhard William Stuhr
• 1865-1867: Peder Andreas Olsen
• 1867-1871: Knud Toenberg
• 1871-1875: Ludvig Kristoffer Olavius Strømme
• 1875-1891: Peder Eilertson
• 1891-1893: Alexander Kristian William Hald
• 1893-1897: Anders Halvorsen
• 1897-1900: Andreas Nikolai Hammerø
• 1901-1905: Ove Edvard Olsen
• 1905-1907: Johan Petter Bjørgan
• 1908-1916: Jens Sevald Jensen
• 1917-1920: Ludvig Thomassen
• 1920-1923: Jens Sevald Jensen
• 1924-1926: Ludvig Thomassen
• 1926-1937: Kristoffer Kristoffersen^[13]
• 1938-1942: Hagbart Pedersen^[14][15]
• 1942-1945: Peder Frostmo (NS)^[15]
• 1945-1945: Hagbart Pedersen
• 1945-1951: Cornelius Karlstrøm (Ap)^[13]
• 1951-1959: Lauritz Mortensen^[16]
• 1959-1963: Thorleif Johansen (Ap)^[13]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Talvik was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Talvik herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[17]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	11
	Conservative Party (Høyre)	2
	Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)	1
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste)	4
Total number of members:		21
Note: On 1 January 1964, Talvik Municipality became part of Alta Municipality.

Talvik herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[18]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	12
	Conservative Party (Høyre)	2
	Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	5
Total number of members:		21

Talvik herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[19]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	11
	Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)	1
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		16

Talvik herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[20]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	14
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
Total number of members:		16

Talvik herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[21]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	10
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste)	6
Total number of members:		16

Talvik herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[22]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste)	7
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		16
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. "Høgaste fjelltopp i kvar kommune" (in Norwegian). Kartverket. 16 January 2024.
2. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
3. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
4. "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1932. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 453–471. 1932.
5. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
6. Thorsnæs, Geir; Askheim, Svein, eds. (29 November 2014). "Talvik". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
7. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
8. Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 1951). Norges Sivile, Geistlige, Rettslige og Militære Inndeling 1. Januar 1951 (PDF). Norges Offisielle Statistikk (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: H. Aschehoug & Co.
9. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
10. Rygh, Oluf (1924). Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (18 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 49–50.
11. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
12. Olsen, Brynjolf Olander (1937). Trekk av Talvik herreds historie (in Norwegian). Stavanger: Dreyers Forlag. pp. 23–24.
13. Larsen, Bjørn Helge (16 July 1983). "Ordfører i tre perioder". Altaposten (in Norwegian). pp. 8–9. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
14. "Referat fra Talvik herredstyres møte". Vestfinnmark Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 22 June 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
15. "Nye ordførere og varaordførere". Finnmark Folkeblad (in Norwegian). 20 August 1942. p. 2. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
16. "Valg i Talvik". Finnmarksposten (in Norwegian). 2 February 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
17. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
18. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
19. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
20. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
21. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
22. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 16 March 2020.