Vesterålen ( , ; ) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

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 ...

. It is located just north of

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 ...

and west of

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county.

Sortland Sortland may refer to: Places *Sortland Municipality, a municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Sortland (town), a town within Sortland Municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Sortland Church, a church in the town of Sortland in Sortland Municipa ...

is the largest town, situated near the center of the archipelago. Vesterålen includes the municipalities of Andøy, Bø,

Hadsel Hadsel may refer to: Places *Hadsel Municipality, a municipality in Nordland county, Norway * Hadsel (village), a village in Hadsel Municipality Hadsel () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county ...

, and

Øksnes Øksnes may refer to: Places *Øksnes Municipality, a municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Øksnes Church, a church in Øksnes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Øksnes, Trøndelag, a village in Steinkjer Municipality in Trøndelag count ...

Name

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 ...

forms of the name were ' and ' (

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

). The first element is ' which means "

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

" and the last element is ' which means "(deep and narrow) sound" or "

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

". The name describes the seaway west of the island of

Hinnøya Hinnøya ( Norwegian; ) is the fourth-largest island in Norway, and the largest outside the Svalbard archipelago. The lies just off the western coast of Northern Norway. The island sits on the border of Nordland and Troms counties. The western ...

. Similarly, the old name of the seaway east of Hinnøya (now called

Tjeldsundet Tjeldsundet ( Norwegian; ) is a strait in Northern Norway. The long strait is located between the island of Hinnøya and mainland Norway in its northern part and between Hinnøya and the island of Tjeldøya in its southern part. Tjeldsundet has ...

) might have been ' (meaning "the eastern sound/strait").

Geography

Vesterålen consists of the municipalities of Andøy, Bø,

, and

. According to some definitions,

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 ...

is also included. Vesterålen is made up of several islands:

Langøya Langøya is the third largest island of Norway (outside of Svalbard), with an area of . The island is a part of the Vesterålen archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island includes Bø Municipality and Øksnes Municipality as well as pa ...

Andøya , , or 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 of ...

Hadseløya or is an island in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Vesterålen region on the north side of the Hadselfjorden. The town of Stokmarknes is situated on the northern shore of the island and the village of Mel ...

, the western part of

, the northern part of

Austvågøya Austvågøya is the northeasternmost and largest of the larger islands in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located between the Vestfjorden and the Norwegian Sea. The island of Vestvågøya lies to the southwest and the ...

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

strandflat Strandflat () is a landform typical of the Norway, Norwegian coast consisting of a flattish erosion surface on the coast and near-coast seabed. In Norway, strandflats provide room for settlements and agriculture in Norway, agriculture, constitut ...

(''strandflaten'') between the mountains and the fjords. There are also several lakes, such as

Alsvågvatnet Alsvågvatnet is a lake which lies in Øksnes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Langøya in the Vesterålen archipelago. There is birch woodland and bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumula ...

Møysalen National Park Møysalen National Park () is a national park located on the island of Hinnøya in Nordland county, Norway. The park was established in 2003 to preserve undisturbed coastal alpine landscape. The scenery is characterized by peaks jutting out of ...

is partly located in Vesterålen
website
. The climate in Vesterålen is

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

, with mild winters considering this archipelago is well 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 ...

. Bø Municipality is the northernmost location in Norway with daily mean above in all winter months.

Transportation

Vesterålen is connected to the mainland and Evenes airport 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

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally, and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports ...

calls at the ports of Stokmarknes, Sortland, and

Risøyhamn Risøyhamn is a village in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern part of the island of Andøya. The island of Andøya is connected to the neighboring island of Hinnøya by the Andøy Bridge at Ris ...

in Vesterålen. There are two regional airports:

Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen Stokmarknes Airport (; ) is an airport in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Langøya, about northeast of the town of Stokmarknes and about southwest of the town of Sortland. Widerøe is the only ...

for small aircraft, and Andenes Airport on Andøya.

Economy

The population in Vesterålen as of 1 January 2004 was 30,648 according to

Statistisk Sentralbyrå Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

) The largest town is

, but the regional hospital is in nearby

Stokmarknes or is a town and the administrative centre of Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the northern coast of the island of Hadseløya and on the small, neighboring island of Børøya. The town has a population (2023) o ...

Hadsel Municipality Hadsel () 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 Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of ...

. The

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () 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 peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

has based all its

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. It is based on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner by Lockheed; it is e ...

maritime patrol aircraft at

Andøya Air Station Andøya Air Station () is a military air station in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The station is located near the village of Andenes at the northern end of the island of Andøya in the Vesterålen archipelago. 333 Squadron of t ...

, and

Andøya Rocket Range , , or 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 of ...

is also located at Andøya. The

Norwegian Coast Guard The Norwegian Coast Guard () is a maritime military force which is part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The coast guard's responsibility are for fisheries inspection, customs enforcement, border control, law enforcement, shipping inspection, enviro ...

has its northern base at

(''Kystvaktskvadron Nord''). Fishing, in particular

cod fisheries Cod 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 three species that belong to this genus: the Atlantic cod, the Pacific cod and the Green ...

, has always been important in Vesterålen. There is also

fish farming Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of ...

, and some

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 ...

in Vesterålen.

Media gallery

IMG 0612a - Landbruksskolen på Kleiva.jpg, The high school for agriculture at Kleiva, Sortland municipality Nyksund 01082004.jpg, Nyksund (1 August 2004) Fra Frøskeland mot Ræka - IMG 0316a.jpg, View towards Ræka, Sortland Aurora-borealis andoya.jpg, 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 visible in all of Vesterålen. Andøy, October 2007. Bleik village and Bleik island, seen from Mount Royken.jpg, The village of

Bleik Bleik is a fishing village in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway.The village is located on the northwestern part of the island of Andøya, about southwest of the village of Andenes. The village has a population (2023) of 456 and a ...

in Andøy, with the long beach and a sea bird colony on the small island Bleiksøya. The deep ocean is very close to shore here, and

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

s feed in this area.

References

External links

Vesterålen group on FlickrAurora borealis (northern lights) picture from Bø in Vesterålen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesteraalen Districts of Nordland Archipelagoes of Norway Landforms of Nordland Hadsel Sortland Øksnes Bø, Nordland Andøy