Kvaløya (Tromsø)

Kvaloya ( " Whale Island "; Sami: Sállir ) is the fifth largest island in Norway and belongs to Fylke Troms. On the fjords of several highly compartmentalized island are part of the city of Tromsø, the largest part of Kvaloya but rural.

Geography

The Kaldfjord the north and the west Ersfjord dissect Kvaloya into three parts. On the east side of the island of Sandnessund, the Kvaloya is from the much smaller island Tromsøya ( with downtown Tromsø) and the mainland separates. In the north of the island Ringvassøy and to the south the mainland and the island of Senja is located, while in addition to some smaller islands is the open Atlantic in the west.

Most of the island is dominated by mountain ranges. The mountains north of Tromsø consist mainly of tonalite gneisses, which are up to 2,88 billion years old. In addition, the rocks are known that they were only exposed to low metamorphic influences in this area of the island. On Ersfjord one finds the so-called Ersfjordgranit, which is up to 1.8 billion years old.

Traffic

There are two solid road links to the mainland of Kvaloya. A via the Sandnessundbrücke in downtown Tromsø on Tromsøya, from where there is a bridge connection to the mainland. The other solid compound is located in the southeast of the island: The Ryatunnel connecting since 29 September 2011 a length of 2.675m and the places Larseng Balsnes. The tunnel is closed to cyclists and pedestrians ( the ferry Vikran - Larseng is still in operation).

Under the Kvalsund in the north of the island, a tunnel leads to the neighboring island Ringvassøy. Some other offshore islands as Sommarøy and hakoya are also connected by bridges.

There are several ferry services, so for example, of Brensholmen in the southwest to Botnhamn on the neighboring island of Senja, of Larseng in the southeast to Vikran on the mainland as well as Belvik on Kaldfjord to various offshore islands ( Vengsøya, Musvær, Risøy and Sandøya ) and after Laukvik, a small village which, although also on Kvaloya is, is not on the road but to achieve.

The directly located across from Tromsø eastern part of the island is integrated into the bus network in the city. Otherwise, the connection of the villages to the city's main center Tromsø via intercity buses.

The nearest airport is located in Tromsø directly opposite the east side of the island.

Policy

The entire island belongs to the municipality Tromsø, whose administrative center is the city.

Population

Much of the island 's population lives on the eastern side of the island opposite the city of Tromsø in the villages Kvaløysletta and Storelv, list the strong influx from the core city of Tromsø. However, there are small, scattered settlements along the coast.

The village Reikvik in southwestern Kvaloya

References, notes

• Island ( Europe)
• Island (Norway)
• Island ( Norwegian Sea )
• Geography ( Troms )
• Tromsø