is the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

of Andøy Municipality which is located in the Vesterålen district of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The village of Andenes is the northernmost settlement of the island of

Andøya Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages ...

(and in Nordland county). To the east is the island of Senja (in

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by ...

county), and to the west the endless horizon of the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

. Andenes Lighthouse sits along the harbor and can be seen for long distances. Andøya Airport, Andenes is located just south of the village, off of Norwegian County Road 82. The village has a population (2018) of 2,694 which gives the village a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of .

History

Andenes was already an important

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. By the early 1900s, it had become one of the largest fishing ports in Norway. The municipality of Andenes was established on 1 January 1924 when it was separated from Dverberg municipality. Initially, Andenes had 2,213 residents. On 1 January 1964, Andenes was merged with Dverberg and Bjørnskinn municipalities to create the new municipality of Andøy. In the early 1980s, the population of the village of Andenes was 3,770, which made it the largest village in Vesterålen. The downsizing of Andøya Air Station and general

population centralization Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

in Norway has led to a dramatic decline in inhabitants over the last 20 years. Tourism has become an important sounce of income for Andenes in recent years. The town's location on the coast by a narrow section of continental shelf has led to the town becoming a major centre for

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 20 ...

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was ''Andarnes'' (from originally ''Amdarnes''). The first element is the genitive case of ''Ömd'' (the old name of the island

) and the last element is ''nes'' which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Joh ...

Air Station

The construction of Andøya Air Station was commissioned in 1952 and funded in large part by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. It was to be situated between Haugnes and Andenes. A

DC-3 Dakota The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

of the Royal Norwegian Air Force ( RNoAF) undertook the first landing on 17 September 1954. The air station however was not fully operative until 15 September 1957. In 1961, the 333 Squadron was moved from Sola Air Station to Andøya with their Grumman HU-16 Albatross. In 1969, these were replaced by the

Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

from a forward base in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

, supported by 44 personnel and contributing 29 patrols of 8–10 hours to NATO's anti-piracy operation. The flights led directly to the arrest of five pirate groups.

Geography

The village lies north of the Arctic Circle and the

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...

is visible from May 19 to July 25. The sun is below the horizon from November 25 to January 28.

Climate

Andenes has the sea in all directions, which moderates both winter and summer temperatures. It has a climate on the boundary between the subarctic and the subpolar oceanic climates, being mild for its latitude. Summers are very cool, whereas even during the

polar night The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnig ...

period, daytime highs typically rise above freezing.

Culture

Andenes Church Andenes Church ( no, Andenes kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Andenes on the northern tip of the island of Andøya. It is one of the churche ...

is located in the central part of the village. The local newspaper is named '' Andøyposten''. Andenes hosts the annua
"Rock mot Rus"
(Rock against drugs) festival, where young people perform their own rock music as well as more known headliner such as Dead by April,

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic ...

Kvelertak Kvelertak () is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Stavanger, formed in 2007. The group comprises vocalist Ivar Nikolaisen, guitarists Vidar Landa, Bjarte Lund Rolland and Maciek Ofstad, bassist Marvin Nygaard and drummer Håvard Takle Ohr. Found ...

Turdus Musicus True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Turdus'' of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for "thrush". The term "thrush" is used for many other birds of the famil ...

and Torch.

Notable residents

* Tom Stenvoll, footballer for Stabæk *

David Pedersen David Pedersen (born May 15, 1986 in Andenes, Vesterålen) is a Norwegian singer and came in 3rd place on Idol in 2003. The next year David was asked to join the band Carnival. The band only released one single before disbanding in late 2006. ...

, singer known from the TV-show Idol * Nanna With, Norwegian journalist

References

External links

Official siteCoast Flights to and from Andenes
{{Authority control Andøy Villages in Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway