Levanger (Southern Sami: Lievangke) is a municipality in
Trøndelag county. The Levanger administration center has 10,333
inhabitants as of 1 January 2020 and decisions on city status from
1997, but has also previously had such status with the market town
privilege from 1836 to 1961.
The municipality is located in
one of Trøndelag's best agricultural districts, and almost half of
the agricultural area is used for grain production. The municipality
also has the county's largest milk production and second largest pig
production. The industry is extensive and varied, and is dominated
by the wood processing factory Norske Skog Skogn. Other important
industrial industries are the engineering, food, wood and rubber and
plastics industries. The municipality also has Nord University and
Levanger Hospital. The retail trade is growing strongly, and
Magneten is the county's second largest shopping center.
The
city is centrally located with access to the sea, road to Jämtland
in Sweden and with Trondheim in the south. Levanger has therefore
long ago in history been a meeting place, and Marsimartnan can be
traced back to the Middle Ages. Levanger celebrated its millennium
anniversary in 2011. Other cultural monuments in the municipality
are ancient monuments such as rock carvings, village castles and
burial mounds, the medieval church Alstadhaug church, Falstad prison
camp at Ekne and the ruins of Munkeby monastery. Levanger has been a
member of the Cittaslow movement since 2003. In connection with
this, the city has, among other things, had an environmental street
built and been connected to the Farmer's Market.
The
municipality borders Verdal in the northeast, Stjørdal in the south
and Frosta in the west. Over Trondheimsfjorden is Inderøy
municipality. Levanger municipality consists of the former
municipalities Levanger, Frol, Skogn, Ytterøy and Åsen, which were
merged in the 1960s. The municipality is part of Innherred joint
municipality together with Verdal.