Tranøy
Encyclopedia
Tranøy is a municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 county
Counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The municipality is situated on the southern coast of the island Senja
Senja
Senja is the second largest island in Norway . It is located along the Troms county coastline with Finnsnes as the closest town. Senja is connected to the mainland by the Gisund Bridge. The municipalities located on Senja are Lenvik , Berg, Torsken, and Tranøy...

. The municipal centre is the village of Vangsvik
Vangsvik
Vangsvik is a village in the municipality of Tranøy in Troms county, Norway. The village, which is the administrative centre of the municipality, has a population of about 350. The village has a school, church, store, and medical office. There is also a large fish farming facility nearby...

 in the east. Stonglandseidet
Stonglandseidet
Stonglandseidet is a village in the municipality of Tranøy in Troms county, Norway. The village has a population of 225, and it is home to a grocery store, bank, nursing home, church, and public school....

 and Å
Å, Tranøy
Å is a village in the municipality of Tranøy in Troms county, Norway. The village is home to 132 residents . The village is about across the Vågsfjorden from the city of Harstad...

 in the west are other population centers. The now abandoned island of Tranøya, with its 18th century wooden church, used to be the centre of activities. From Tranøybotn it is only a short walk to the Ånderdalen National Park
Ånderdalen National Park
Ånderdalen National Park lies in Torsken and Tranøy municipalities in Troms county, Norway. The park was established on 6 February 1970 by royal decree. It was enlarged in 2004, and is now...

, with varied landscapes within a very limited area, including deep pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s.

General information

Tranøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). On 1 September 1886, the municipality was divided into three separate municipalities: Tranøy, Dyrøy
Dyrøy
Dyrøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Brøstadbotn. The municipality is named after the island of Dyrøya, which is connected with the mainland with the modern Dyrøy Bridge...

, and Sørreisa
Sørreisa
Sørreisa is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa.- General information :...

. After this, Tranøy had 1,239 inhabitants.

On 1 January 1964 several changes took place. The mainland areas of Tranøy (population: 382) were transferred to Dyrøy and the Hellemo, Paulsrud, Johnsgård, and Stormo farms (population: 106) were transferred to Lenvik
Lenvik
Lenvik is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality is partly situated on the mainland, partly on the island of Senja. The administrative center is the town of Finnsnes, where the Gisund Bridge connects Senja to the mainland by road. Other settlements include Aglapsvik, Gibostad,...

. At the same time, the parts of Bjarkøy
Bjarkøy
Bjarkøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bjarkøy. The municipality is spread across several smaller islands, the biggest being the northern side of Grytøya...

 on Senja and Lemmingsvær islands (population: 480) and the Rødsand area of Torsken
Torsken
Torsken is a municipality on the western coast of Senja island in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gryllefjord. The church of Torsken dates back to the 18th century...

 (population: 160) were both transferred to Tranøy.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

) is named after the small island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Tranøya (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

: Tranøiar), since the first church was built there. The first element is comes from trana which means "crane
Common Crane
The Common Crane , also known as the Eurasian Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes.It is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane at 100–130 cm long, with a 180–240 cm wingspan and a weight of 4.5–6 kg...

" and the last element is øy which means "island". Prior to 1909, the name was written Tranø.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is from modern times. They were granted on 15 May 1987. The arms show an Atlantic halibut
Atlantic halibut
The Atlantic halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus, is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. They are demersal fish, that live on or near sand, gravel or clay bottoms at depths of between . The halibut is among the largest teleost fish in the world. Halibut are strong swimmers and are able to...

 (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), a main species of local fish, which symbolizes the importance of fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 for the local community. In addition to this, the fish played a major role in local legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

s, similar to the role of bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

s in land-based legends.

External links

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
    Statistics Norway
    Statistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...

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