Fauske

Fauske was separated from Skjerstad January 1, 1905. Township was declared in 1998. The town is located on the northern shore of Skjerstadfjorden. The municipality borders Sweden in the east. To the north is Sørfold, Bodø is west from Fauske, and in the southeast is Saltdal.

1 The name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 Economy
4 Communication
5 Famous residents
6 Nature and climate

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Fauske (Norse Fauskar), since the first church was built there (in 1866). The name is the plural form of fauskr m 'old and rotten tree'.

Fauske marble; can also be green-white

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). It shows a reef knot (to represent Fauske as a center of commerce and communication).

[edit] Economy

Several marble quarries are located in the municipality. The marble is exported to many countries, where it can be observed in many monumental buildings, among them the United Nations headquarters in New York City. There are also dolostone quarries in Fauske, as well as some agriculture. Salten Kraftsamband and Fauske Lysverk are important employers in Fauske. The town is a commercial centre for parts of the inland areas of Salten, and has hotel and camping facilities.

Railway station in Fauske; an important junction for many travellers. Fauske and Bodø are the most northerly stations on the main railway network in Norway. Photo: Lars Røed Hansen

[edit] Communication

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 the E6 which goes through the center of Fauske. The E6 from Mo i Rana north to Fauske crosses over Saltfjell, 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 Rv 80 road to Bodø, 62 km to the west, departs from E6 in the centre of Fauske.

[edit] Famous residents

The authors Dag Ove Johansen, Trine Angelsen and Karin Risvoll live in the municipality.

The singers "Fattern" and Christel Alsos both grew up and lived in Fauske before they left for higher education and to pursue solo-careers. Simon Slåttvik was born in Valnesfjord 24/7-1917, a wellknown Nordic kombination with Olympic Gold in Oslo 1952.

[edit] Nature and climate

There are two large glaciers in Fauske; Blåmannsisen and Sulitjelmaisen; covering about 14% of the municipality. The highest mountain is Suliskongen 1,907 meters (6,000 ft) above sea level. There are many lakes in the municipality, such as Langvatnet, Låmivatnet and Nedrevatnet.

Jakobsbakken (elevation 600 m), a former mining community, now a mountain lodge; near Sulitjelma. April 9 2007

Saulo mountain as the sun is setting at 18:35 in March, near the border with Sweden. Photo: Lars Røed Hansen.

Junkerdal National Park is partly located in Fauske ([1]). Sulitjelma, located 44 km 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 ([2]) and Fauskeeidet wetland area with rich bird life and observation tower ([3]).

Climate Fauske is located inside the Arctic circle and has 24-hr of daylight from early May to the beginning of August, with midnight sun from the beginning of June to the second week of July. Average 24-hr temperatures in Fauske is below freezing from mid-november to the last part of March, but the ice free fjord moderates winter temperatures. Summer starts in June with summer temperatures lasting until early September. Precipitation is heaviest from September to December (usually as snow in December); average annual precipitation is 1040 mm. Daytime temperatures are usually significantly warmer than the 24-hr average from March to September, while there is very little diurnal temperature variation from November to early February as the sun is very low or below the horizon all day. However, temperatures varies considerably with the weather; there might be cool westerlies with 10°C and rain both night and day in July, and the next day might be sunny with daytime temperature reaching 25°C. Southwesterlies can bring thaws anytime in winter, but not in the mountains, which usually get large amounts of snow in winter - the main reason for the large glaciers and the hydropower in the area.

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Monthly 24-hr avg °C	-4.1	-3.6	-1.7	1.9	7.3	11.1	13.0	12.5	8.6	4.4	-0.1	-2.8
Avg precipitation mm	98	81	75	53	45	53	78	79	110	147	105	116
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute All data is for Fauske town (14 m a.m.s.l.), base period 1961 - 90; temperatures have tended to be warmer in recent years.