Fauske

or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsnes, and Sulitjelma. The municipality borders Sweden in the east and the municipalities of Sørfold to the north, Bodø to the west, and Saltdal to the southeast. The town is located on the northern shore of Skjerstad Fjord. The municipality is the 90th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fauske is the 117th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,603. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 0.9% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality was established on 1 January 1905 when the municipality of Skjerstad was divided into Skjerstad (population: 1,709) in the west and Fauske (population: 4,646) in the east. The municipal borders haven't changed since that time. In 1998, the municipality declared township for its administrative centre. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fauske farm (Fauskar) since the first Fauske Church was built there in 1867. The name is the plural form of fauskr which means "old and rotten tree". The coat of arms was granted on 22 July 1988. The official blazon is "Argent, a reef knot gules" (I sølv en liggende rød båtmannsknute). This means the arms have a field (background) that 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 charge is a red reef knot. It was chosen to represent Fauske as a center of commerce and transportation for the region. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Fauske. It is part of the Salten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. There are two large glaciers in Fauske: Blåmannsisen and the Sulitjelma Glacier; covering about 14% of the municipality.