Kvæfjord
| Kvæfjord kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 68°42′7″N 16°8′49″E / 68.70194°N 16.14694°ECoordinates: 68°42′7″N 16°8′49″E / 68.70194°N 16.14694°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Troms | ||
| District | Hålogaland | ||
| Administrative centre | Borkenes | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2005) | Lillian Hessen (V) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 512.73 km2 (198 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 497.76 km2 (192.2 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 14.97 km2 (5.8 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 205 in Norway | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 3,049 | ||
| • Rank | 266 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 6.1/km2 (15.8/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -7.2 % | ||
| Demonym | Kvæfjerding[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1911 | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Website | www.kvafjord.kommune.no | ||
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Kvæfjord (Northern Sami: Giehtavuotna) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borkenes.
Together with Harstad, the two municipalities cover a large part of the island of Hinnøya in the southern part of the Troms. Kvæfjord consists mostly of mountains and fjords. The fjord Kvæfjord is a central part.
Kvæfjord is also where the Norwegian national cake originally comes from.
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[edit] General information
Kvæfjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 25 October 1956, a part of Kvæfjord (population: 32) was transferred to neighboring Trondenes municipality. The district of Godfjorden was transferred from Kvæfjord to Sortland municipality (in neighboring Nordland county) on 1 January 2000.[2]
[edit] Name
The municipality is named after the fjord (Old Norse: Kviðjufjörðr). The first element is the genitive case of the name of the island Kviðja (now Kveøya) and the last element is fjörðr which means "fjord". The name of the island is maybe derived from the word kviðr which means "belly" or "stomach". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled Kvædfjord.[3]
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 4 April 1986. The arms show a strawberry plant. The main source of income in the municipality is agriculture and it is also the northernmost village in Norway where strawberries can grow.[4]
[edit] Economy
The municipality is known for agriculture and farming. The quality of the strawberries is famous. The long hours of daylight, combined with relatively low summer temperatures, make the strawberries more tasteful than berries grown in warmer climates.
A large institution for the mentally handicapped was once located in Kvæfjord. It employed a large number of health workers.
[edit] Geography
The municipality is split by three smaller branches of the large Andfjorden: Gullesfjorden, Kvæfjorden, and Godfjorden.
The landscape of today was largely formed during the last ice age. When the ice retreated, the terrain rose by 50 metres (164 ft). It is in this belt of old seabed that today's best farm land is located. There are four county roads connecting the municipality: two to the north and one each to the east and south. The 412-metre (1,352 ft) tall mountain Nupen is located in the northern part of the municipality on the border with Harstad.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf.
- ^ Rygh, Oluf (1911) (in Norwegian). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 1. http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/navnegransking/rygh_ng/rygh_bla.prl?enhid=269794&avid=59783.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/k/kvaefjor.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
[edit] External links
Media related to Kvæfjord at Wikimedia Commons
The Wiktionary entry for Kvæfjord- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
- Troms travel guide from Wikitravel
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