Dønna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the island municipality is the village of Solfjellsjøen. Other villages include Bjørn, Dønnes, Hestad, Sandåker, and Vandve. The main island of Dønna is connected to the neighboring municipality of Herøy to the south by the Åkviksundet Bridge.

Dønna kommune
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms Nordland within Norway
Dønna within Nordland
Coordinates: 66°05′29″N 12°31′33″E
Country	Norway
County	Nordland
District	Helgeland
Established	1 Jan 1962
• Preceded by	Nordvik, Dønnes, and other areas
Administrative centre	Solfjellsjøen
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Nils Jenssen (Sp)
Area
• Total	192.55 km2 (74.34 sq mi)
• Land	186.39 km2 (71.97 sq mi)
• Water	6.16 km2 (2.38 sq mi)  3.2%
• Rank	#304 in Norway
Population  (2022)
• Total	1,369
• Rank	#306 in Norway
• Density	7.3/km2 (19/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−4.5%
Demonym	Dønnværing[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Bokmål
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1827
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

The 193-square-kilometre (75 sq mi) municipality is the 304th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Dønna is the 306th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,369. The municipality's population density is 7.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (19/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 4.5% over the previous 10-year period.[3][4]

General information

Municipal history

The municipality of Dønna was established on 1 January 1962 due to the work of the Schei Committee. The new municipality was created by merging these areas:

• the municipality of Nordvik (population: 1,293)
• the part of the municipality of Herøy on the southern tip of the island of Dønna (population: 19)
• the part of the municipality of Nesna on the island Løkta (population: 80)
• the majority of the municipality of Dønnes (population: 1,348), except for the part located on the island of Tomma.

The borders of Dønna municipality have not changed since that time.[5]

Name

The municipality is named after the island of Dønna (Old Norse: Dyn). The name is probably derived from the Norse verb dynja which means to "rumble" or "roar" (referring to the swell of the waves on the island).[6]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 29 May 1981. The arms show a wave as a canting symbol for the municipality since the Norwegian word dønning means wave.[7]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Dønna. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Economy

Much of the industry focuses on fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing. There is also some agriculture, tourism, and some public services.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Dønna, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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.[8] The municipality falls under the Alstahaug District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Dønna is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Dønna (incomplete list):

• 2019–present: Nils Jenssen (Sp)
• 2015-2019: John Erik Skjellnes Johansen (Ap)
• 2011-2015: Anne Sofie Sand Mathisen (Ap)
• 2007-2011: Ingunn Laumann (Ap)
• 2003-2007: Steinar Horsgård (Sp)
• 1995-2003: Anne Sofie Sand Mathisen (Ap)

Geography

Dønna is located in Outer Helgeland which also consists of the municipalities of Leirfjord, Alstahaug, and Herøy. The municipality is made up of a large archipelago consisting of islands, islets, and reefs. The three largest islands in the municipality are Dønna, Løkta, and Vandve. The Åsværet islands (and the Åsvær Lighthouse) lie in the western part of the municipality. The island municipality is situated at the mouth of the Ranfjorden.

View from Dønnesfjellet, Dønna. The strandflaten lowland in the foreground and several islands with unique mountain formations visible in the distance

Notable residents

• Gjeble Pederssøn (ca.1490 at Teigstad – 1557) a priest, the first Lutheran bishop in Norway
• Petter Dass (ca.1647 – 1707) a Lutheran priest and poet; (birthplace disputed)
• Erasmus Zahl (1826 in Nordvika – 1900) a privileged trader and figure of the social hierarchy
• Anton Christian Bang (1840 on Dønna – 1913) a theologian, historian and politician; Bishop of Oslo 1896 to 1912
• Fredrikke Tønder-Olsen, (Norwegian Wiki) (1856 on Dønna - 1931) feminist pioneer
• Julius J. Olson (1875 on Dønna – 1955) Minnesota Supreme Court justice
• Ole Edvart Rølvaag (1876 on Dønna – 1931) a Norwegian-American author
• Axel Coldevin (1900 on Dønna – 1992) a Norwegian historian, wrote about trade and industry
• Steinar Bastesen (born 1945 on Dønna) a Norwegian politician, fisherman and whaler
• Roy Jacobsen (born 1954) a novelist and short-story writer, lives periodically on Dønna
• Odd Eriksen (born 1955) a politician, stopped an Algerian hijacker; brought up on Dønna
• Jostein Pedersen (born 1959 in Dønna) a Norwegian musical journalist, reporter and TV commentator

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dønna.

• Nordland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Photos from Dønna (in German)

На других языках

[de] Dønna

[ru] Дённа (коммуна)