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Lødingen

Lødingen kommune
Lodegat
Biketown
Municipality
Lødingen village viewed from the ferry from Bognes
Lødingen village viewed from the ferry from Bognes
Coat of arms of Lødingen kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Lødingen kommune
Nordland within
Norway
Lødingen within Nordland
Lødingen within Nordland
Coordinates: 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°E / 68.40417; 15.57139Coordinates: 68°24′15″N 15°34′17″E / 68.40417°N 15.57139°E / 68.40417; 15.57139
Country Norway
County Nordland
District Ofoten
Administrative centre Lødingen
Government
 • Mayor (2015) Atle Andersen (A)
Area
 • Total 524.51 km2 (202.51 sq mi)
 • Land 504.71 km2 (194.87 sq mi)
 • Water 19.8 km2 (7.6 sq mi)
Area rank 202 in Norway
Population (2012)
 • Total 2,179
 • Rank 312 in Norway
 • Density 4.3/km2 (11/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -7.6 %
Demonym(s) Lødingsværing
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1851
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.lodingen.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Lødingen (Northern Sami: Lodegat) is a village and municipality in Nordland county in Norway. Lødingen is located on the southeastern corner of the island of Hinnøya, and is part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lødingen. The other main village is Vestbygda. Lødingen has the nickname "Biketown" because it hosts several annual bicycle races like Lofoten Insomnia and Vestbygd-rittet.

The municipality of Lødingen was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1869, the southwestern district of Lødingen surrounding the Tysfjorden (population: 1,402) was separated to form the new municipality of Tysfjord. This left 2,064 residents in Lødingen. Then on 1 January 1909, the eastern district of Lødingen (population: 1,404) was separated to form the new municipality of Tjeldsund. This left 3,034 residents in Lødingen. On 1 January 1962, the southern part of Lødingen surrounding the Efjorden and the island of Barøya (population: 433) were transferred to the municipality of Ballangen. Then on 1 January 1964, the eastern part of Lødingen on the island of Tjeldøya (population: 297) was transferred to Tjeldsund.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lødingen farm (Old Norse: Lǫðueng), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of laða which means "grain/hay barn" and the last element is eng which means "meadow".


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