Andøy
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| Andøy kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates (city): 69°5′40″N 15°45′52″E / 69.09444°N 15.76444°ECoordinates: 69°5′40″N 15°45′52″E / 69.09444°N 15.76444°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Nordland | ||
| District | Vesterålen | ||
| Municipality ID | NO-1871 | ||
| Administrative centre | Andenes | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor (2005) | Jonni Helge Solsvik (H) | ||
| Area (Nr. 169 in Norway) | |||
| - Total | 656 km2 (253.3 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 616 km2 (237.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 5,245 | ||
| - Density | 9/km2 (23.3/sq mi) | ||
| - Change (10 years) | -13.4 % | ||
| - Rank in Norway | 182 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Norwegian demonym | Andværing[1] | ||
| Website | www.andoy.net | ||
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Andøy 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.
Andøy was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the old municipalities of Andenes, Bjørnskinn, and Dverberg. Today, Andenes is a thriving fishing village and enjoys a number of tourists every year.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Andarøy (from Amdarøy). The first element is the genitive case of the old uncompounded name of the island: Ömd. The last element is øy which means "island". The meaning of the uncompounded name is unknown.
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 7 January 1983. The arms show a wave as a symbol for the fact that the municipality is situated at the sea and that fishing is important.[2]
[edit] History
The village of Andenes has been an important fishing village since the Iron Age, and today it is the starting point of whale safaris (whale watching) to see the sperm whales off the island that migrate here in the summer.
[edit] Geography
The municipality of Andøy is spread across Andøya, the northernmost island in the archipelago of Vesterålen, and Hinnøya, the largest and most populous island in Norway. The municipality also consists of smaller skerries like Bleiksøya, Vomma, and Stavaøyan.
The midsection of the island consists of marshes, known for their Arctic cloudberries. The island is also the only place in continental Norway where coal and fossils from dinosaurs are to be found. Forfjorddalen nature reserve on Hinnøya has some of the oldest pine trees in Scandinavia, some more than 700 years old. [3]
[edit] Birdlife
Lying furthest north in the area known as Vesterålen, Andøy is a mixture of vast areas of marshland fens, with a backdrop of high peaked mountains. The coast is famous for its sheltered bays with white sandy shores. The area has a rich bird life and this is reflected in some good birding localities like Forfjorddalen Nature Reserve and Skogvoll, the latter a Ramsar site of international importance.
The bird cliff at Bleiksøya,[4] outside of Bleik, is a spectacular and photogenic landmark outside the northern part of Andøya, with many species of seabirds including puffin.
[edit] Transportation
The Hurtigruten boat stops at Risøyhamn. Andøya Airport at Andenes is served by Widerøe airlines. During the summer, Andenes is connected to Gryllefjord on the island of Senja by ferry. By car, you reach Andøy on Route 82, northbound from Sortland.
[edit] Military
Andøya Air Station is located next to Andenes. It is the home of the 333rd Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and houses all P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in the Norwegian Armed Forces.
Andøya Rocket Range is a civilian facility for launching sounding rockets, located a few kilometres south of Andenes.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskriving_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/a/andoy.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ "Forfjorddalen naturreservat". http://nordland.miljostatus.no/msf_themepage.aspx?m=1569#8400. Retrieved 2008-11-18. (Norwegian)
- ^ "Bleiksøya naturreservat". http://nordland.miljostatus.no/msf_themepage.aspx?m=1537#7565. Retrieved 2008-11-18. (Norwegian)
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