Fauske
Description
Fauske is a town and 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 with approximately 6,000 inhabitants. Other villages include Nystad, 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 the Skjerstadfjorden.
General information
On 1 January 1905, the northern district of the municipality of Skjerstad was separated to become the new municipality of Fauske. Initially, the population of Fauske was 4,646. The municipal borders haven't changed since that time. In 1998, the municipality declared township for its administrative centre.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fauske farm (Old Norse: Fauskar), since the first church, Fauske Church, was built there (in 1867). The name is the plural form of fauskr which means "old and rotten tree".
Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Fauske. It is part of the Salten deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.
Churches in Fauske Parish(Sokn) Church Name Location
of the Church Year Built Fauske Fauske Church Fauske 1867 Sulitjelma Sulitjelma Church Sulitjelma 1899 Sulitjelma Chapel Sulitjelma 1996 Valnesfjord Valnesfjord Church Valnesfjord 1905
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). The arms show a red reef knot on a gray background. It was chosen to represent Fauske as a center of commerce and transportation for the region.
Transportation
The Nordlandsbanen railroad passes through the municipality, reaching Bodø west of Fauske. Travellers going further north usually leave the train in Fauske, and travel by express bus to Narvik or further, using European route E6 which goes through the center of Fauske. The E6 from Mo i Rana north to Fauske crosses over the Saltfjellet mountains, and the E6 further north to Narvik also goes through very rugged terrain; these are among the most scenic drives in Norway, although there are many tunnels in the Sørfold area. The Norwegian national road Rv 80 to Bodø, about 62 kilometres (39 mi) to the west, departs from E6 in the centre of Fauske.
The Norwegian County Road 830 runs from the town of Fauske to the east to the village of Sulitjelma. The road passes through several tunnels: Grønnlifjell Tunnel, Hårskolten Tunnel, Sjønståfjell Tunnel, and Stokkviknakken Tunnel. The road follows the old Sulitjelma Line railroad.
Nature
There are two large glaciers in Fauske: Blåmannsisen and Sulitjelmaisen; covering about 14% of the municipality. The highest mountain is Suliskongen at 1,907 metres (6,257 ft) above sea level. There are many lakes in the municipality, such as Blåmannsisvatnet, Kjelvatnet, Låmivatnet, Langvatnet, Muorkkejávrre, Nedrevatnet, Øvrevatnet, and Vuolep Sårjåsjávrre.
Junkerdal National Park and Sjunkhatten National Park are partly located in Fauske. Sulitjelma, located 44 kilometres (27 mi) by road east of Fauske, is a good starting point for hiking in the mountains and hikes to the glaciers. There are several DNT lodges in this area.
There are many nature reserves in the municipality, such as Veten nature reserve with calcareous pine forest and a rich understory and Fauskeeidet wetland area with rich bird life and observation tower.
There are several caves in the municipality. The fairly easy accessible Svarthamarhola (Svarthamar cave) is one of the largest caves in northern Europe, also hosting one of the worlds most northerly bat colonies.