Leka, Norway


Leka is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Leknes on the island of Leka. Other villages in Leka include Sør-Gutvika and Madsøygrenda. The island municipality includes all of the island of Leka and part of the island of Austra as well as hundreds of smaller surrounding islands and skerries.
Primarily a fishing and farming community, Leka is the northernmost municipality in Trøndelag county. The island of Leka has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, as evidenced by cave drawings in the Solsem section of the island.
The municipality is the 325th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Leka is the 348th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 557. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 6.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Leka was established on 1 October 1860 when it was separated from the large municipality of Kolvereid. Initially, the population of Leka was 1,702. On 1 January 1909, the southern district of Leka was separated from Leka to form the new municipality of Gravvik. This left Leka was 1,209 residents. The borders of Leka have not changed since then. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
On 8 June 2017, the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, voted to merge the municipalities of Leka, Vikna, Nærøy, and Bindal to form one, large municipality effective 1 January 2020. Leka and Bindal municipalities rejected the merger, but Vikna and Nærøy merged on that date to form the new municipality of Nærøysund.

Toponomy

The Old Norse form of the name was Leka. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it may come from the word lekke which can mean "gravelly ground".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 21 April 1989. The arms show the golden wing and claw of an eagle on a red background. This is a reference to an incident which supposedly occurred in 1932, in which a three-year-old girl disappeared on the island, and was subsequently discovered beneath the nest of a White-tailed eagle.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within the municipality of Leka. It is part of the Namdal prosti in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Parish Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
LekaLeka ChurchLeknes1867

Geography

Leka is an island municipality encompassing the main island of Leka, the western part of the island of Austra, and many other small islands in the surrounding area. The tiny island groups of Sklinna and Horta lie to the west of the main islands. Sklinna Lighthouse is located in the westernmost part of the municipality. Leka borders Vikna and Nærøy municipalities to the south and Bindal to the north.

History

Dated to the Viking Age, the burial mound Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest from that era.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Leka, 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 elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Namdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal. The municipality falls under the Namdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Leka is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Leka :
In the 2007 municipal elections, Leka had the highest vote for the Centre Party in Norway, at 69.3 per cent.

Transportation

The island part of Leka is connected to Gutvik by a ferry line, operated by Lekaferja.