Knarvik (or Knarrviki) 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 the municipality of Alver in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, whe ...

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 is located on the mainland, about straight north of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

at the confluence of four

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

Osterfjorden Osterfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy. The fjord runs along the municipal border of Alver and Osterøy municipalities. The fjord begins at the Romarheimsfjorden ...

(heading east), Sørfjorden (heading southeast),

Salhusfjorden Salhusfjorden is a long fjord and sound between Bergen Municipality and Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. To the west, it starts between the villages of Salhus and Frekhaug, where the Byfjorden meets the Herdlefjorden. To the eas ...

(heading southwest), and the

Radfjorden Radfjorden is a fjord in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the islands of Radøy and Holsnøy. The northwestern end of the fjord is called the ''Mangerfjorden'' and it flows out into the Hjeltefjorden. ...

(heading northwest). The village of

Isdalstø Isdalstø or Isdalsstø is a village in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies along the southern end of the Radfjorden between the villages of Alversund and Knarvik Knarvik (or Knarrviki) is the administrative centre ...

lies immediately north of Knarvik. The village has a population (2019) of 5,875 and 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 . This makes it the largest settlement in the

Nordhordland Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway. The district consists of the northern portion of the old Hordaland county (now in Vestland county), north of the city of Bergen. It includes the municipalities Alver, Aust ...

district of Vestland. Knarviksenter

The centre of the village is the site of the Knarvik Senter, the largest shopping centre in Nordhordland with 61 stores. The

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in ...

highway runs straight through the village dividing it into two major parts. The northern part is where the large shopping mall is located while the southern part is still in its original state with scattered buildings and shops. Knarvik has several kindergartens, a junior high school, and a regional high school ( Knarvik vidaregåande skule) with more than 1,000 students. The newly built Knarvik Church was completed in 2014 to serve the growing community. Before its completion, residents had to travel up to Alversund Church in the village of Alversund, located about to the north.

Transportation

In recent years population and traffic have increased creating demand for an upgrade of the infrastructure. Rush hour traffic is an increasingly common sight. Today, Knarvik is connected with

via the

Hagelsund Bridge The Hagelsund Bridge ( no, Hagelsundbrua) is a suspension bridge in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the island of Flatøy with the village of Knarvik on the mainland. The length of the bridge is . The length ...

(finished 1982) and the

Nordhordland Bridge The Nordhordland Bridge ( no, Nordhordlandsbrua) is a combined cable-stayed and pontoon bridge which crosses Salhusfjorden between Klauvaneset (in Bergen Municipality) and the island of Flatøy (in Alver Municipality) in Vestland county, ...

(finished 1994). The car ferry connection between Knarvik and Bergen (Knarvik – Steinestø), which historically transported cars and people between the two places was in use up until the completion of the Nordhordland Bridge. That ferry connection was at one time carrying more vehicles than any other car ferry connection in

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Villages in Vestland Alver (municipality)