Namsos

Namsos kommune — Municipality —
Coat of arms
Nord-Trøndelag within
Norway

Namsos within Nord-Trøndelag Coordinates: 64°29′38″N 11°30′42″E / 64.49389, 11.51167 Country Norway County Nord-Trøndelag District Namdalen Municipality ID NO-1703 Administrative centre Namsos Government - Mayor (2007) Morten Stene (AP) Area (Nr. 141 in Norway) - Total 775 km² (299.2 sq mi) - Land 751 km² (290 sq mi) Population (2004) - Total 12,426 - Density 17/km² (44/sq mi) - Change (10 years) 0.7 % - Rank in Norway 88 Time zone CET (UTC+1) - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2) Official language form Neutral Data from Statistics Norway Website: www.namsos.kommune.no

Namsos (help·info) is a municipality and town in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway.

The town of Namsos was separated from Overhalla as a municipality of its own in 1855. The municipalities of Klinga, Otterøy and Vemundvik were merged with Namsos January 1, 1964.

1 Geography
2 Name
3 Coat of arms
4 History
5 External links

Geography

View of downtown Namsos from Klompen viewpoint.

The city is on a small bay, about 15 miles from the sea, near the head of Namsenfjord and at the mouth of the river Namsen, one of the richest salmon rivers in Europe. The main part of the town is built on a small, low-lying promontory which extends into the bay. To the north, low forested hills rise fairly steeply to over 600 ft. To the east extends the wide Namdalen valley. The climate is generally maritime. The average temperature in January is –2.4°C, in July 13.3°C; the mean annual temperature is 5°C and annual precipitation is 1340 mm (met.no).

The location by the river, and the large forests nearby made the town ideal for sawmills. There were eleven mills in their heyday, but only one remains, Moelven Van Severen. The town has a swimming pool called Oasen (Oasis) built inside a mountain – one of the first, but far from the only, such construction in Norway.

Name

The town is named after the river Namsen; the last element, os, meaning 'mouth of a river'.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is from 1961. It shows the head of an elk (moose).

Part of the waterfront in Namsos, April 2006.

History

The town was founded in 1845. Consisting mostly of wooden houses, it has been burned down to the ground on three occasions during its relatively short history. The first fire was in 1872, caused by two boys playing with matches. The second fire was in 1897, from an unknown cause. The third time was during World War II when the town was bombed by German airplanes on April 20th 1940 to mark Hitler's birthday (see also: Namsos Campaign).