Gratangen

Gratangen (Rivttága suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Central Hålogaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årstein. The municipality is the 261st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gratangen is the 327th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,070. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 5.8% over the previous 10-year period. The largest settlement in the municipality is Årstein, which is located approximately north of the town of Narvik and east of the town of Harstad. Other villages in Gratangen include Elvenes, Fjordbotn, and Hilleshamn. The European route E6 highway runs through the southeastern part of the municipality. The municipality of Gratangen was established on 1 July 1926 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ibestad. The initial population of Gratangen was 1,967. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Gratangen fjord (Grjótangr). The first element is grjót which means "stone". The last element is angr which means "fjord". The coat of arms was granted on 15 June 1990. The official blazon is "Azure, a chevron embowed argent" (I blått en innbøyd sølv sparre). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a curved chevron. The chevron has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the blue sky (on top) and the Gratangen fjord and sea (on the bottom). The chevron was chosen to represent the snowy mountain peaks. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gratangen.