Vesthimmerland Municipality

Vesthimmerland Municipality Vesthimmerlands Kommune (Danish)
Municipality
Coordinates: 56°48′07″N 9°31′23″E
Country	Denmark
Region	North Jutland Region
Current municipality	January 1, 2007
Seat	Aars
Government
• Mayor	Per Bach Laursen
Area
• Total	768.08 km2 (296.56 sq mi)
Population  (1. January 2024)
• Total	36,012
• Density	47/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC2 (CEST)
Website	www.vesthimmerland.dk

Vesthimmerland Municipality (Danish: Vesthimmerlands Kommune) is a kommune in the North Jutland Region of Denmark. It covers an area of 768,08 km² (2013) and has a total population of 36,012 (2024). The Municipality borders Jammerbugt Municipality to the south and to the east it borders Rebild and Aalborg Municipality and to the south it borders Viborg Municipality and to the south-east it borders Mariagerfjord Municipality.

On 1 January 2007 Vesthimmerland municipality was created as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), consisting of the former municipalities of Aalestrup, Farsø, Løgstør, and Aars.

The municipal seat is the city of Aars, which also was the seat in the former Aars Municipality.

Four principal towns

The municipality's four principal towns (hovedbyer) are Aars, Farsø, Løgstør & Aalestrup, all of them were former municipal seats of their former municipalities.

Aars

Main article: Aars

Aars, the municipal seat of Vesthimmerland municipality and the largest town of Vesthimmerland municipality, is located to the east of the three other principal towns. Aars is/was a railway town and was the principal town of Aars Municipality. It has a population of 8,246.

Farsø

Main article: Farsø

Farsø is a town with a population of 3,299 in Region Nordjylland in Denmark in the Vesthimmerland municipality. It is located west of Aars, south of Løgstør, and north-west of Aalestrup. Until 1 January 2007 Farsø was also a municipality in North Jutland County. The municipality covered an area of 201 km², and had a total population of 7,991.

Løgstør

Main article: Løgstør

Løgstør is a town with a population of 4,284 and the former seat of Løgstør municipality. It is located north-west of the other principal towns. The former municipality, including the island of Livø, covered an area of 218 km2 (84 sq mi), and had a total population of 10,270.

Aalestrup

Main article: Aalestrup

Aalestrup is a town in Vesthimmerland municipality with a population of 2,729. It is the furthest south of all the four principal towns. Aalestrup School has 294 students. It was also a municipal seat until 2007.

Municipality's largest towns

The municipality's largest cities
Nr	City	Inhabitants			From/to 11-16
		2006	2011	2016
1	Aars	7.457	8.010	8.116	+106
2	Løgstør	4.434	4.357	4.114	-243
3	Farsø	3.216	3.253	3.409	+156
4	Aalestrup	2.736	2.760	2.761	+1
5	Ranum	1.152	1.108	991	-117
6	Hornum	963	971	947	-24
7	Gedsted	1.013	930	870	-60
8	Hvalpsund	701	669	683	+14
9	Vester Hornum	533	566	567	+1
10	Overlade	525	515	457	-58
11	Strandby		328	309	-19
	Municipality	37.871	37.867	37.296	-568

Mayors of Vesthhimmerland

Period	Name	Party
2007–2009	Jens Lauritzen	Venstre
2010–2017	Knud Vældgaard Kristensen	Det Konservative Folkeparti
2018–present	Per Bach Laursen	Venstre

Former municipalities

Aars Municipality

Main article: Aars Municipality

The municipality covers an area of 223 km², and had a total population of 13,284 (2005). Its latest mayor was Knud V. Christensen, a member of the Conservative People's Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti) political party.

Farsø Municipality

Main article: Farsø Municipality

The municipality covered an area of 201 km², and had a total population of 7,991 (2005). Its last mayor was H. O. A. Kjeldsen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

Løgstør Municipality

Main article: Løgstør Municipality

The municipality, including the island of Livø, covered an area of 218 km² (84 sq mi), and had a total population of 10,270 (2005). Its last mayor was Jens Lauritzen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

Aalestrup Municipality

Main article: Aalestrup Municipality

The municipality covered an area of 176 km², and had a total population of 7,631 (2005). Its latest mayor was Rigmor Sandborg.

The main town and the site of its municipal council was the town of Aalestrup. The municipality was located on the eastern shores of the area known as Himmerland, a part of the Jutland peninsula; the western border of the municipality was partially defined by the waters of Lovn's Broadening (Lovns Bredning).

Politics

Municipal council

Næstved's municipal council consists of 27 members, elected every four years.

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Election	Party								Total seats	Turnout	Elected mayor
	A	B	C	F	G	L	O	V
2005	6	1	7	1		1	1	10	27	72.3%	Jens Styrbæk Lauritzen (V)
2009	6	3	9	2			1	6		69.5%	Knud Vældgaard Kristensen (C)
2013	4	1	10	4			2	6		73.8%
2017	7		7	2	1		2	8		72.3%	Per Bach Laursen (V)
Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017

Notable people

Not including people included on the Wiki pages for their own towns and villages elsewhere in the municipality

• Knud Erik Pedersen, (Danish Wiki) (born 1934 in Skarp Salling near Løgstør) a Danish author.
• Gert Bo Jacobsen (born 1961 in Østrup near Aars) the former WBO welterweight champion of the world
• Søren T. Lyngsø – engineer and business owner.

Twin towns and sister cities

Lapinlahti, Finland Mo i Rana, Norway

Skellefteå, Sweden Sigulda, Latvia

External links

• Vesthimmerland municipality's official website (in Danish)
• Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD a.k.a. Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
• Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map