Frosta is the smallest municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Frosta. The municipality is located along the Trondheimsfjord, on the Frosta peninsula, just north of the city of Trondheim. It also includes the island of Tautra which is connected to the mainland by a causeway bridge.

The 76-square-kilometre (29 sq mi) municipality is the 337th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Frosta is the 245th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,645. The municipality's population density is 35.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (92/sq mi) and its population has increased by 0.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Frosta was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It is one of very few municipalities in Norway with unchanged borders since that date. In 2018, the municipality, which was part of the old Nord-Trøndelag county became part of the new Trøndelag county.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named Frosta (Old Norse: Frosta). The meaning of the name is unknown. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Frosten. On 31 December 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Frosta.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 26 June 1987. The official blazon is "Vert, a sceptre fleury Or" (Norwegian: I grønt et gull liljesepter). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a sceptre or mace with a Fleur-de-lis design at the top. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The coat of arms was inspired by the old seal of the medieval Frostating assembly, where King Magnus VI the law-mender is sitting with a lily sceptre in his hand. Frosta was one of the historic places of justice, so this was chosen to commemorate that fact. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Frosta. It is part of the Sør-Innherad prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Frosta

Parish (sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Frosta	Frosta Church	Frosta	1866
	Logtun Church	Logtun	16th century

History

Several rock engraving sites can be found in the parish, together with burial mounds from Viking times. Archaeologists have for the first time found the remnants of a Viking harbour (Vikinghavna på Fånestangen) in Norway at Frosta. A number of logs sticking up along the shoreline at Frosta have been dated back to around year 1000.

Norway's oldest court, Frostating, had its seat here at Tinghaugen, close to the medieval church at Logtun. On the island of Tautra can be found the remains of Tautra Abbey, a Trappist (Reformed Cistercian) convent, established in 1207.

Economy

Agriculture makes up the largest business in Frosta, which is sometimes called "Trondheim's kitchen garden" due to the substantial production of vegetables, strawberries, and flowers.

Geography

Frosta is on a peninsula in the Trondheimsfjord, about 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Trondheim. By road the distance is about 75 km (47 mi) Frosta is sometimes nicknamed "Trondheim's kitchen garden" due to many farms with production of vegetables, as well as a good microclimate.

Climate

Frosta has a predominantly temperate oceanic climate/marine west coast climate (barely humid continental if 0 °C is used as winter threshold). The driest month is May and the wettest is December. The all-time high temperature is 34.1 °C (93.4 °F) recorded July 2019; the all-time low is −20.7 °C (−5.3 °F) recorded in February 2010. The warmest month on record was July 2014 with average high 25.9 °C (78.6 °F), average low 14.9 °C (58.8 °F) and mean 19.7 °C (67.5 °F). The coldest month on record was December 2010 with average high −3.6 °C (25.5 °F), average low −8.9 °C (16.0 °F) and mean −6 °C (21 °F). The weather station was established in December 1989.

Government

Frosta 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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Frosta is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Frosta:

Notable people

• Lars Myraune (born 1944 in Frosta), a military leader, politician, and Mayor of Frosta 2003–2009
• Karin Pettersen (born 1964 in Frosta), a team handball player and team silver medalist at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics
• Vidar Riseth (born 1972 in Frosta), a former football player with over 400 club caps and 52 for Norway
• Anna Ceselie Brustad Moe (born 1975), a politician for the Centre Party