Bardu, Troms County, Norway

🇳🇴 Bardu (Bearddu suohkan, Perttulan komuuni) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality.

The 2,704-square-kilometre (1,044 sq mi) municipality is the 18th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bardu is the 202nd most populous municipality in Norway. The municipality's population density is 1.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.1/sq mi) and its population has increased by 0.4% over the previous 10-year period.

Norway's largest military garrison is located at Setermoen. The military is the municipality's largest employer and more than 1,000 young soldiers perform their duty service here each year. The world's most northern zoo, Polar Park, is located in the southern part of the municipality.

General information The municipality of Bardodalen was established in 1854 when the eastern part of the old Ibestad Municipality was separated to form the new municipality. The initial population of the new municipality was 757. The municipal borders have not changed since then, although the name was later changed to Bardu.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county. On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.

Name The municipality has had several name variations since its establishment in 1854. Initially, the name was Bardodalen from 1854 until 1889. In 1889, the name was shortened to Bardo. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Bardu. The root of the name is possibly a Norwegianized form of the Sámi name Beardu. The meaning of the Sámi name is probably "long and steep mountain side". The original suffix of the name, dalen means "the valley", thus the name was "the valley of Bardo". An alternate explanation is that "Bardo" is a corruption of the old Norwegian male name Berto or Berdo (Old Norse: Bergþórr).

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 6 June 1980. The official blazon is "Or, a wolverine statant sable" (Norwegian: I gull en gående svart jerv.). This means the arms have a charge that is a wolverine which has a tincture of sable. The field (background) 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 wolverine was chosen as a symbol for the large forests and the rich wildlife in the municipality. There is a permanent population of wolverines living in the extensive forests and mountain areas of Bardu. The motif also expresses strength and continuity. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

Churches The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Bardu. It is part of the Indre Troms prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.