Skjerstad (municipality)


Skjerstad is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2005. The municipality generally encompassed the area around the Misværfjorden in what is now Bodø Municipality, although it originally was much larger, also including the entire present-day Fauske Municipality. The administrative centre of Skjerstad municipality was the village of Misvær.

History

The municipality of Skjerstad was established on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1905, most of Skjerstad Municipality located on the north side of the Skjerstadfjorden was separated to form the new Fauske Municipality. In 1949, a small district of Skjerstad was transferred to neighboring Saltdal Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the small area of Skjerstad on the north side of the fjord was transferred to neighboring Bodin Municipality. On 1 January 2005, the municipality of Skjerstad was merged with Bodø Municipality to form a new, larger Bodø Municipality. Just prior to the merger, the population of Skjerstad was 1,080.

Name

The municipality was named after the old Skjerstad farm since the first Skjerstad Church was built there. The first part of the name possibly comes from the old name for the local river which means "pure" or "clear". The last part means "homestead" or "farm".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is modern and they were granted on 14 July 1991. The green arms show a silver or white millstone or grinding stone, which was used in the municipality.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Skjerstad, are responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elects a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Skjerstad was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: