Harran (municipality)
# Harran (municipality)

Harran is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality was located in the Namdalen valley and it included all of what is now the northern part of the municipality of Grong in Trøndelag county. The administrative centre was the village of Harran where the Harran Church is located.

## History

The municipality of Harran was established on 1 July 1923 when the large municipality of Grong was divided into four smaller municipalities: Grong (population: 1,272), Harran (population: 630), Røyrvik (population: 392), and Namsskogan (population: 469). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Harran (population: 1,085) and Grong (population: 1,962) were merged (back together) to form a new municipality called Grong.

### Name

The origin of the municipal name is uncertain. The area has been known as Harran for quite some time, but the original pronunciation was more like Harrei, so it is possible that the original name was something similar to that. One theory is that the first element comes from the old name for a local river, once known as Herja. The last element may have originally been either eið (which means "isthmus") or ey (which means "island").

## Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Harran was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Harran herredsstyre 1960–1963 :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 10 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 7 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |

Harran herredsstyre 1956–1959 :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 9 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |

Harran herredsstyre 1952–1955 :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |

Harran herredsstyre 1948–1951 :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |

Harran herredsstyre 1945–1947 :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |

Harran herredsstyre 1938–1941* :

| Party Name (in Norwegian) | Party Name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| - | - | - |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 10 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 6 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||

### Mayors

The mayors of Harran:

* 1923–1928: Johannes Mørkved (Bp)
* 1929–1934: Johannes J. Fiskum (V)
* 1935–1941: Severin Melby (Ap)
* 1941–1945: Tore Rigstad Kristiansen (NS)
* 1945–1951: Severin Melby (Ap)
* 1952–1958: Ivar Iversen (V)
* 1959-1959: Torleif Hermanstad (Bp)
* 1960–1963: Knut Romstad (Ap)
