Lierne is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, and it is the largest municipality by area in Trøndelag. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sandvika. Other villages include Inderdal, Mebygda, and Tunnsjø senter. The municipality borders Sweden to the south and east. Most of Lierne lies on the Swedish side of the drainage divide between Norway and Sweden.^[4]

Quick Facts Country, County ...

Lierne Municipality Lierne kommune
Municipality
Winter in Lierne
Flag Coat of arms
Trøndelag within Norway
Lierne within Trøndelag
Coordinates: 64°22′34″N 13°36′35″E
Country	Norway
County	Trøndelag
District	Namdalen
Established	1 Jan 1874
• Preceded by	Snaasen Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1915
• Succeeded by	Nordli and Sørli
Re-established	1 Jan 1964
• Preceded by	Nordli and Sørli
Administrative centre	Sandvika
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Tor Erling Inderdal (Sp)
Area
• Total	2,961.71 km2 (1,143.52 sq mi)
• Land	2,630.45 km2 (1,015.62 sq mi)
• Water	331.25 km2 (127.90 sq mi)  11.2%
• Rank	#16 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	1,295
• Rank	#311 in Norway
• Density	0.5/km2 (1/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−7.6%
Demonym	Libygg[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-5042[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Close

The 2,962-square-kilometre (1,144 sq mi) municipality is the 16th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Lierne is the 311th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,295. The municipality's population density is 0.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.3/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 7.6% over the previous 10-year period.^[5][6]

The municipality of Lierne was established on 1 January 1874 when it was separated from the large municipality of Snaasen. Initially, the population of Lierne was 1,015. On 1 July 1915, it was divided into two municipalities: Nordli (population: 863) in the north and Sørli (population: 739) in the south. This division, however, was short-lived. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964 they were merged back together again under the former name Lierne. After the merger, there were 2,045 residents in the new municipality.^[7]

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Lierne National Park is located in the municipality, and Blåfjella-Skjækerfjella National Park is partly located in Lierne. Lierne has a significant population of brown bears.

Lierne is also home to many lakes, including Gusvatnet, Havdalsvatnet, Holden, Ingelsvatnet, Kingen, Kvesjøen, Laksjøen, Lenglingen, Limingen, Murusjøen, Rengen, Sandsjøen, Stortissvatnet, Tunnsjøen, and Ulen.

Lierne was the largest obstacle in the negotiations before the Stromstad Treaty of 1751 in which the border was defined in detail. Sweden wanted it based on its location on the Eastern side of the drainage divide, although Norway got it based on its connection to the Snaasen parish in Norway, and as compensation Norway gave up its demand for the Idre and Särna parishes which were under Swedish control since 1644. This gave a curve in the border.

Lierne 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.^[12] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

• Frode Estil (born 1972 in Lierne) a retired Norwegian cross-country skier; he won two golds and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics and asilver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics

The cross-country race Flyktningerennet is held here every year. It is a race that follows a route from Nordli to Gäddede in Strömsund Municipality, Sweden, in remembrance of the people who fled Nazi German-occupied Norway for Sweden during the Second World War.