Vesterålen is a
districtNorway is divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords, plains, or coastlines,...
in the
county||-|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities...
Nordlandis a county in Norway, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is in Bodø. The remote Arctic...
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, just north of
LofotenLofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
.
Vesterålen consists of the municipalities
AndøyAndøy is the northernmost municipality in Nordland county, Norway, and it belongs to the Vesterålen archipelago. The largest island in the municipality is Andøya. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Andenes....
,
BøBø is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straume...
,
HadselHadsel is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stokmarknes, and the other village on the island of Hadseløya is Melbu. Hadsel was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
,
Sortlandis a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. In 1997, the municipality decided to declare township for Sortland...
and
ØksnesØksnes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Langøya, part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Myre....
. Vesterålen is made up of several islands:
LangøyaLangøya is the third largest island of Norway , with an area of . The island is a part of Vesterålen, and is situated in Nordland county, just west of Hinnøya. The Sortlandssundet divides the two islands. It includes the municipality of Bø, and parts of the municipalities of Øksnes, Sortland and...
,
AndøyaAndøya is the northernmost island in the archipelago of Vesterålen in Nordland county, Norway. The island belongs to the Andøy municipality, and has an area of 489 km², making it the tenth largest island in Norway. The island is connected to Hinnøya using the Andøy Bridge.1962 founded Andøya...
,
HadseløyaHadseløya is an island in Vesterålen in Nordland county, Norway. Its area is 102 km². It is located in Hadsel municipality. Stokmarknes is situated on the northern shore of the island, and Melbu is on the south coast....
, the western part of
HinnøyaHinnøya is an island in North Norway. It is largest coastal island in Norway with an area of . It has a population of 31,851 . The western part of Hinnøya belongs to the district of Vesterålen, and the southwestern tip to the district of Lofoten. The major settlement is the city of Harstad...
, the northern part of Austvågøya and several smaller islands. The landscape is mountainous, but the mountains have a more rounded shape compared to the mountains in Lofoten.
Vesterålen is a
districtNorway is divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords, plains, or coastlines,...
in the
county||-|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities...
Nordlandis a county in Norway, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is in Bodø. The remote Arctic...
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, just north of
LofotenLofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
.
Geography
Vesterålen consists of the municipalities
AndøyAndøy is the northernmost municipality in Nordland county, Norway, and it belongs to the Vesterålen archipelago. The largest island in the municipality is Andøya. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Andenes....
,
BøBø is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straume...
,
HadselHadsel is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stokmarknes, and the other village on the island of Hadseløya is Melbu. Hadsel was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
,
Sortlandis a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. In 1997, the municipality decided to declare township for Sortland...
and
ØksnesØksnes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Langøya, part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Myre....
. Vesterålen is made up of several islands:
LangøyaLangøya is the third largest island of Norway , with an area of . The island is a part of Vesterålen, and is situated in Nordland county, just west of Hinnøya. The Sortlandssundet divides the two islands. It includes the municipality of Bø, and parts of the municipalities of Øksnes, Sortland and...
,
AndøyaAndøya is the northernmost island in the archipelago of Vesterålen in Nordland county, Norway. The island belongs to the Andøy municipality, and has an area of 489 km², making it the tenth largest island in Norway. The island is connected to Hinnøya using the Andøy Bridge.1962 founded Andøya...
,
HadseløyaHadseløya is an island in Vesterålen in Nordland county, Norway. Its area is 102 km². It is located in Hadsel municipality. Stokmarknes is situated on the northern shore of the island, and Melbu is on the south coast....
, the western part of
HinnøyaHinnøya is an island in North Norway. It is largest coastal island in Norway with an area of . It has a population of 31,851 . The western part of Hinnøya belongs to the district of Vesterålen, and the southwestern tip to the district of Lofoten. The major settlement is the city of Harstad...
, the northern part of Austvågøya and several smaller islands. The landscape is mountainous, but the mountains have a more rounded shape compared to the mountains in Lofoten. The towns and villages are situated on the coastal brim (
Strandflaten) between the mountains and the fjords. There are also several lakes, such as
AlsvågvatnetAlsvågvatnet is a lake which lies in the municipality of Øksnes in Nordland, Norway. It is on the island of Langøya, one of the Vesterålen islands. There is birch woodland and bogland nearby.-References:...
.
Møysalen National ParkMøysalen National Park is a national park located on Hinnøya in North Norway that preserves undisturbed coastal alpine landscape. The scenery is characterized by peaks jutting out of the ocean and fjords, the highest point is Møysalen . The park is largely undisturbed...
is partly located in Vesterålen (
). The climate in Vesterålen is maritime, with mild winters considering this archipelago is well north of the
arctic circleThe Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. In , it is the parallel of latitude that runs approximately 66° 33′ 39″ north of the Equator. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern...
. In
Stokmarknesis a small town on the island of Hadsel in Nordland, Norway. It is the municipality centre of the Hadsel municipality. Township was declared in 2000. It is home to Hurtigruten...
(Hadsel), January average is -1.8°C, July 24-hr average is 12.3°C, year average is 4.3°C and precipitation is 1220 mm with autumn as the wettest season (
1961-1990 average).
Communications
Vesterålen is connected to the mainland by bridges. It is connected to Lofoten by ferry, although since the opening of the Lofast road in December 2007, Lofoten can also be reached by road.
The coastal steamer
HurtigrutenHurtigruten or Hurtigruta is a Norwegian passenger and freight line with daily sailings along Norway's spectacular western and northern coast. Ships sail almost the entire length of the country, completing the roundtrip journey in 11 days...
calls at the ports of Stokmarknes, Sortland and
RisøyhamnRisøyhamn is a village on the island of Andøya in the municipality of Andøy, Norway.Hurtigruten calls at Risøyhamn twice a day.The island of Andøya is connected to the island of Hinnøya by bridge in Risøyhamn....
in Vesterålen. There are two regional airports:
Stokmarknes Airport, SkagenStokmarknes Airport, Skagen is an airport in Hadsel municipality in Norway, 3 nautical miles east northeast of Stokmarknes. The airport opened 1. july 1972 as part of a government program of building a series of small airports along the coast...
for small aircraft, and Andenes Airport on Andøya.
Economy
The population in Vesterålen as of January 1 2004 was 30,648 (Statistisk Sentralbyrå). The largest town is Sortland, but the regional hospital is in nearby
Stokmarknesis a small town on the island of Hadsel in Nordland, Norway. It is the municipality centre of the Hadsel municipality. Township was declared in 2000. It is home to Hurtigruten...
in Hadsel municipality. The
Royal Norwegian Air ForceThe Royal Norwegian Air Force is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian armed forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peace force is approximately 1,430 employees . Six hundred personnel are also serving their one-year national service in the Air Force...
has based all its
P-3 OrionThe Lockheed P-3 Orion is a maritime patrol aircraft used by numerous navies and air forces around the world, primarily for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.-Development:...
maritime patrol aircraft at
Andøya Air StationAndøya Air Station is situated in the north of Norway, in the municipality of Andøy. At Andøya, the 333 Squadron is based with P-3C Orions. The squadron is Norway's only surveillance squadron and stands as the airborne defence of northern Norway...
, and
Andøya Rocket RangeAndøya Rocket Range is a rocket launch site and rocket range on Andøya island in Andøy municipality in northern Norway...
is also located at Andøya. The
Norwegian Coast GuardThe Norwegian Coast Guard, or Kystvakten in Norwegian, is a part of the Royal Norwegian Navy, but has separate vessels, many of which are purpose-built. All coast guard vessels have the prefix KV. Four of these vessels are capable of embarking one or more helicopters...
has its northern base at
Sortlandis a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. In 1997, the municipality decided to declare township for Sortland...
(Kystvaktskvadron Nord).
Fishing, in particular
Cod fisheriesCod fisheries are fisheries for cod. Cod is the common name for fish of the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and this article is confined to the three species that belong to this genus: the Atlantic cod, the Pacific cod and the Greenland cod....
, has always been important in Vesterålen. There is also
fish farmingFish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
, and some
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
in Vesterålen.
External links
Sights