Orkanger


Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdalsfjorden, and arm of the Trondheimsfjord. Orkanger is the commercial centre of the municipality of Orkland and it is the site of the Orkanger Church. It was established as a "town" in 2014.
Combined with the neighboring suburban village of Fannrem, the conurbation constitutes one of the largest urban areas in Trøndelag county. The town has a population of 8,204 and a population density of.
Just north of Orkanger lies the port of Thamshavn. Until 1974, Orkanger had a station on the Thamshavn Line railway with the Thamshavn Station just north of the city. Between 1908 and 1949 there was a steam ship service to Trondheim on the SS Orkla. The European route E39 highway runs through the town, connecting it to the major city of Trondheim, about to the northeast.

History

The urban area of Orkanger was established as a municipality on 1 July 1920 when it was separated from Orkdal municipality. Initially, it had a population of 1,715. The municipality encompassed the urban area and some of the surrounding countryside. It was an important port, but it did not have the designation of a town at that time.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipality of Orkanger ceased to exist and it was merged into the larger municipality of Orkdal. Prior to the merger, Orkanger had 2,874 residents. In 2014, the municipality of Orkdal declared Orkanger to be a "town".

Municipal council

During its time as an independent municipality, the municipal council of Orkanger was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Name

The name "Orkanger" is composed of the name "Ork", which stems from the lake Orkelsjøen from which the river Orkla runs. The second element of the name means "narrow fjord".