or is a former municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1869 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of

Narvik Municipality () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

and

Hamarøy Municipality or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppeid ...

in the traditional district of

Ofoten Ofoten is a districts of Norway, traditional district in Nordland county in Northern Norway. It consists of Evenes Municipality, Narvik Municipality, and Lødingen Municipality. It is named after the main fjord, Ofotfjorden, which is at the cent ...

. Its

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was the village of

Kjøpsvik or is a village in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the eastern shore of the Tysfjorden, north of the small village of Storå. The island of Hulløya lies off the coast of Kjøpsvik. The village has ...

. Other villages in Tysfjord included Drag, Hundholmen, Korsnes, Musken, Rørvika, Skarberget, and Storå. There is a very large population of Lule Sami people in the area, and the Árran Lule Sami Center is in the village of Drag. With the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

and

Lule Sami language Lule Sámi (, , ) is a Uralic- Sámi language spoken around the Lule River in Sweden and in the northern parts of Nordland county in Norway. In Norway it is especially seen in Hamarøy Municipality (formerly Tysfjord Municipality), where Lule S ...

both as official languages of the municipality, Tysfjord was the only municipality in Norway where speakers of Lule Sami should theoretically have been able to speak that language with officials, although this did not come completely to fruition. At the time of its dissolution, Tysfjord was the 56th largest by area of the 422 municipalities in Norway and the 330th most populous, with 1,925 people in , for a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of . During its final decade, its population had decreased by 5.9%.

General information

The municipality of Tysfjord was established on 1 January 1869 when it was separated from the large

Lødingen Municipality Lødingen () is a municipality in Nordland county in Norway. Lødingen is located on the southeastern corner of the island of Hinnøya, and is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the munic ...

. Initially, the population of Tysfjord was 1,402. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the Tysnes and Molvika areas (population: 33) located northwest of Bognes were transferred from the neighboring

to Tysfjord Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the municipality was dissolved and divided between its neighbors:

and

. This occurred because in 2017, the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

decided that Tysfjord Municipality would be divided along the fjord with the eastern half being merged with

and Ballangen Municipality to form a new, larger

and the remaining western half will be merged with

on the same date.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the local Tysfjorden since it was a central geographical feature in the area. There are several ideas on the derivation of the name. Historically, the name was spelled in Norwegian as ''Tyttisfjiorden''. One thought is that the first element was the old name for the fjord which may have come from the verb which means "blowing" (as in wind) or "rushing". The last element is which means "

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

". Another thought is that the name ''Tysfjord'' is a Norwegianized form of the

name for the fjord, . The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is which means "

". Another popular belief is that the Norwegian name is derived from the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the name of the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

god

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

, but is the least plausible since the name ''Týr'' does not seem fit either with the Sami form or the oldest Norwegian spellings of the name. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Tysfjorden''. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Tysfjord''. On 7 October 2011, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official

Lule Sami Lule Sámi (, , ) is a Uralic- Sámi language spoken around the Lule River in Sweden and in the northern parts of Nordland county in Norway. In Norway it is especially seen in Hamarøy Municipality (formerly Tysfjord Municipality), where Lule ...

name for the municipality: . The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called when it is spelled alone, but it is when using the Sami language equivalent to "Tysfjord Municipality".

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 31 July 1987. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

, a lobster

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

issuant from the base"'' (). This means the arms have a field (background) that has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

. The lobster was chosen because Tysfjord is the northernmost location of lobster habitat in the world. The original drawing included a lobster with claws of different size, such as they are in the natural population of lobsters in Tysfjord, but the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

opted for the same size claws to meet the standard heraldic conventions. The arms were designed by Esther Skoglund. The municipality originally adopted a design that showed Stetind mountain, but this was not approved by the

, so the lobster design was chosen instead.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had three

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

() within Tysfjord Municipality. It was part of the Ofoten prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

History

There are prehistoric rock carvings at Leiknes showing scenes of

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, and the world's oldest known depiction of an orca whale. In 1948, an investigation that had lasted for years, was dismissed in regards to "a large group of

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

from Tysfjord". amiske grenseloser reddet tusenvis. - Så ble de beskyldt for landssvik - Nå får de oppmerksomhet og heder. ami guides saved thousands. - Then they were accused of treason - Now they get attention and are lauded/ref> These individuals had worked as guides—guiding Norwegians who chose to flee into Sweden. In 2016, media uncovered the sexual abuse of 11 women; this was followed by more reports of sexual abuse—the Tysfjord Affair.. 92 persons were the suspects, in regard to 151 cases of sexual abuse from the 1950s to 2017; at least 2 persons have been convicted.https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/jla849/tystnaden-i-sapmi-fortielseskultur-under-lupen.

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

.no. Retrieved 2022-10-15 Around two-thirds of the victims and alleged abusers were Sami. 40 cases dealt with sexual intercourse with underage children.

Ethnicity

A 2004 article in Avisa Nordland estimated that out of 2,209 inhabitants, between 600 and 1000 are Sami.

Government

While it existed, Tysfjord Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elected a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Tysfjord was made up of 17 representatives that were elected every four years. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Tysfjord was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: * 1869–1872: Peter Østbye * 1873–1880: Arnoldus Schjelderup * 1881–1882: Nikolai Norman * 1883–1884: Olaf Holm * 1885–1890: Johan Lagerfeldt * 1891–1892: Nikolai Norman * 1893–1896: Jens C. Davidsen * 1897–1898: Nikolai Norman * 1898–1901: Waldemar Pettersen * 1901–1907: Karl Aasebøstøl * 1910–1913: Andreas Davidsen * 1913–1916: Waldemar Pettersen * 1916–1919: Haldor Jenssen * 1919–1928: Sigurd Storjord * 1928–1934: Kristen Aasebøstøl ( H) * 1934–1941: Arnoldus Molvik ( Ap) * 1941–1945: Torgils Moe * 1945-1945: Høier Olsen ( Ap) * 1946–1955: Kolbjørn Varmann ( Ap) * 1955–1959: Olav Mathisen ( Ap) * 1959–1968: Arne Solberg ( Ap) * 1968-1968: Fritz Tørnes ( Ap) * 1969-1971: Haldor Jenssen ( Ap) * 1971–1979: Birger Skårvik ( Ap) * 1979–1991: Edvard-Olav Stenbakk ( Ap) * 1991–1995: Jan-Arild Skogvoll ( Ap) * 1995–1999: Ivar Jakobsen ( H) * 1999–2003: Leif Kristian Klæboe ( SV) * 2003–2007: Kurt-Allan Nilsen ( LL) * 2007–2011: Anders Sæter ( Sp) * 2011–2019: Tor Asgeir Johansen ( Ap)

Economy

Due to the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

in Tysfjord, a

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

factory was established with production starting in 1920. The modern Norcem factory still is a vital employer in Kjøpsvik, with about 130 employees; since 1999 it has been a part of the German worldwide company Heidelberger Cement.

Public services A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service (economics), service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing availab ...

, some

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

are the other main sources of income in Tysfjord.

Geography

The municipality is located along the Tysfjorden. The Tysfjorden is the second deepest fjord in Norway, with a maximum depth of . Tysfjord borders Ballangen Municipality in the north, Hamarøy Municipality in the south,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the east, and the Vestfjorden in the northwest. The island of Hulløya lies in the middle of the Tysfjorden. The municipality is dominated by grey

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

mountains;

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

, and

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s; and the many fjord branches. Tysfjord's most dominant mountain, Stetinden, is famous in Norway. This high natural granite

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

, rising straight out of the fjord, is an awe-inspiring sight. In Norwegian, it is called which means the 'anvil of the gods', partly because the summit forms a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

. This was selected to be the national mountain of Norway in the autumn of 2002. The famous

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

climber William C. Slingsby described it as "the ugliest mountain I ever saw"; he did not reach the summit. The mountains near the border with Sweden have peaks up to above sea level, and a large glacier, Gihtsejiegŋa is located in this area. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Bjørntoppen. There are several nature reserves in Tysfjord. Mannfjordbotn reserve has undisturbed forests at the head of a narrow fjord branch surrounded by granite mountain walls. From Hellemobotn, at the head of Hellemofjorden, the distance to the border with Sweden is only ; this is also a scenic hiking terrain with a

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

opening up in Hellemobotn. There are also caves, such as the very deep Raggejavreraige. Lakes in the region include

Baugevatnet Baugevatnet is a lake that lies in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The lake is located about east of the village of Kjøpsvik and just northwest of the border with Sweden. The lake Båvrojávrre lies about to the southwest an ...

Båvrojávrre Båvrojávrre is a lake that lies on the border between Norway and Sweden. Most of the lake lies in Norway in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county. Only of the lake lies in Sweden in Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County. The lake Baug ...

, Kilvatnet, Langvatnet, and Skilvatnet. Silver birch occurs in Tysfjord, as one of few areas in

North Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

(silver birch need more summer warmth than the more common downy birch).

Nature

For many years since 1990, a large part of the stock of Norwegian

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

has stayed in the fjord in winter, one of the largest gatherings of

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

in the world. Large number of

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

s in particular, have followed to feed on the herring. This has attracted winter tourists from far away, but not in huge numbers. Since 2008, less herring and fewer orca have arrived in Tysfjord.

Harbor porpoise The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...

lobsters Lobsters are malacostracans decapod crustaceans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, in ...

, white-tailed eagles,

common raven The common raven or northern raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all Corvidae, corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variatio ...

European otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...

s, and

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

are all common in the Tysfjord area. Tommerasfjorden-tysfjorden-ofoten-nordland

The coastal municipality of Tysfjord is better known for its

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. ...

than its

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

but the region has still a lot to offer. Thanks to a range of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s the area has a varied birdlife. Though the area has no large

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

colonies, there is a small

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

at Ramnholmen with breeding populations of Arctic tern and

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

Climate

The climate is surprisingly temperate considering the location north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Mean annual temperature in Kjøpsvik is and mean annual precipitation is . Summer is usually pleasant, although there might be persistent

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

. Average monthly 24-hr temperature in June, July, and August is , , and , with average daily high about . The average temperatures are below freezing for slightly more than 4 months, statistically from 17 November to 30 March, with January average of . October is the wettest month with on average precipitation, May is the driest with . The

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, 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 midnight sun is see ...

can be seen from the end of May to mid-July, and the sun is below the horizon from the beginning of December to mid-January. The

aurora borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

is commonly seen in winter and late autumn.

Villages

Transport

Tysfjord was the only location in Norway where the

European route E6 European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...

highway depended on a car

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

. There are ferry connections from Bognes to Skarberget (route E6) and from Bognes to

Lødingen Lødingen may refer to: Places *Lødingen Municipality, a municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Lødingen (village), a coastal fishing village within Lødingen Municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Lødingen Church, a church in Lødingen Muni ...

(connecting to route

European route E10 European route E10 is the second shortest Class A road which is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Å, Norway, and ends in Luleå, Sweden. The road is about in length. The Norwegian part of the road is also named Kong Ol ...

and

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

). There is also a ferry connecting Drag south of the fjord with

on the northern shore. Kjøpsvik is connected to the E6 highway and

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

by Norwegian National Road 827, with no ferry crossings. This might be an alternative to route E6, and is also the route of choice to get close to the mountain Stetinden. If Tysfjord experiences bad weather and the ferry connections are shut down, Norway is cut in two road-wise. A road connection is still maintained, albeit through Sweden, which makes it a very long drive. The closest airport is Evenes. There was also a small airport in Narvik. Tysfjord-ferry-may11.jpg, Bognes ferry harbour, southwestern shore of Tysfjord Bilferga tysfjord.JPG, The car ferry connecting Bognes with Lødingen to the north

References

External links

Unesco-Tysfjord on the tentative listSummitpost: about Stetind
(includes pictures)
About Stetind
(includes pictures)
Árran Lule Sami Center
{{Authority control Narvik Hamarøy Sámi-language municipalities Former municipalities of Norway 1869 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1869 Populated places disestablished in 2020