Selbu Municipality

Selbu is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Fossan, Hyttbakken, Innbygda, Selbustrand, Trøa, Tømra, and Vikvarvet.
The 1,235-square-kilometre (477 sq mi) municipality is the 86th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Selbu is the 200th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,216. The municipality's population density is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.8/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.6% over the previous 10-year period.
The parish of Selbu was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1901, the eastern part of the municipality was separated to form the new Tydal Municipality. This left Selbu Municipality with 4,607 inhabitants. The borders of Selbu have not changed since that date.
On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
The municipality (originally the parish) is named "Selbu" (Old Norse: Selabú) after a nearby lake since the first Selbu Church was built near its southeastern shore. The first element is the genitive case of the old name of the lake Selbusjøen (Old Norse: Seli). The old name of the lake is probably derived from the word seli which means "harness" since the lake is long and narrow. The last element is bú which means "rural district".
The coat of arms was granted on 31 May 1991. The official blazon is "Argent, 24 lozenges sable in three rosettes two over one" (Norwegian: I sølv 24 svarte spissruter samlet i tre rosetter, 2-1). This means the arms have a field (background) 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 three selburoses made out of 8 rhombus shapes each. The selburose design is a typical pattern used in the local lusekofte (traditional Norwegian sweaters) and other woollen garments. Home knitting has been a long tradition in the municipality. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Selbu Municipality. It is part of the Stjørdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Traditionally, Selbu has been an agricultural and forest managing community. The area is well known for its special knitting techniques such as the Selburose. The last decades have led to efforts in business such as high technology, electronics, and mechanics. The newspaper Selbyggen has been published in Selbu since 1889.
Selbu Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Selbu is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Selbu is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
Selbu borders eight municipalities: Malvik Municipality, and Stjørdal Municipality are to the north; Meråker Municipality and Tydal Municipality are to the east; Holtålen Municipality, and Midtre Gauldal Municipality are to the south; and Melhus Municipality and Trondheim Municipality are to the west.
The largest lake in Selbu is Selbusjøen with an area of about 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi). It is located 160 metres (520 ft) above sea level. Another lake in the municipality is Sørungen. The highest mountain in Selbu is the 1,441.37-metre (4,728.9 ft) tall mountain Fongen, located inside Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park, forming the tripoint border with Meråker, Tydal, and Selbu municipalities. The Nea River and Rotla River both flow through the municipality. The municipality covers a total of 1,254 square kilometres (484 sq mi) which consists of:
Located inland in the Trøndelag region at relatively low altitude, Selbu has a humid continental climate (Dfb), but with a relatively mild winter for this climate type, as the sea is not that far away. The all-time low −30 °C (−22 °F) was recorded Februar 2010 and January record low is also from 2010, all the other record lows are from 1983 or older. The all-time high 33.3 °C (91.9 °F) is from June 2020. Recent decades have tended to be warmer than earlier decades; 8 of the 12 record highs are from after 2010.
The main road through Selbu is Norwegian County Road 705 that runs between Stjørdal Municipality, Selbu Muncipality, and Tydal Municipality. Selbu is located near important destinations: