Vesterålen

The Vesterålen are a group of islands about 300 km north of the Arctic Circle off the coast of Norway. You close the north-east of the more famous Lofoten. The geographical location of the town Sortland, which is located in the center of the island group, is 68 ° 42 ' N, 15 ° 25' O68.69583333333315.413055555556.

In German, the name Vesterålen is often understood as a plural word because of its ending and so used. In Norwegian Vesterålen is a word in the singular.

History

Geography

The main islands, which are included in Vesterålen, are Andøya, Langøya, Skogsøya, Hadseløya, the western part of Hinnøya as well as the northern part of Austvågøya.

Administratively, the islands are divided and are among the Fylken Nordland and Troms. The end of 2005 the total population of the six municipalities of the Vesterålen was 33,500 inhabitants. The total area of ​​the islands is about 3,100 km ², with a north- south length of 150 km.

The archipelago offers a very diverse landscape of craggy rock formations rising straight from the sea, while lonely, white sand beaches give rise to associations with southern countries. There are fjords, skerries, rivers and lakes, bogs, lonely valleys and small plateaus. The highest mountain in the region, with 1,262 m of Møysalen on Hinnøya.

Geologically the Vesterålen are not uninteresting. In many parts of the bedrock of the earth belong underground is over 600 million years old. Bø one of the oldest rocks in the world was found, that began to form 2,700 million years ago by volcanic activity. On Andøya however, there is a belt of the recent 100 million years rocks of the Norwegian mainland. The soil is rich in plant and animal fossils, and there is here the only known coal deposits on the Norwegian mainland.

Climate

Although the Vesterålen are on the same level as Greenland and north of Iceland, the climate because of the Gulf Stream is very mild. Characteristic are the relatively mild winter and not too hot summer. In the coldest month of February the average temperature is -2 ° C, whereas it is in July at 12-14 ° C. The highest ever recorded temperature was 31 ° C.

Autumn is usually very high precipitation, the most rain falls in October. The driest month is July again. Plenty of snow falling from January to March.

Since the Vesterålen lie north of the Arctic Circle, you can experience the polar night in December and early January, while the not the sun rises. Of 23 May seems to 23 July for around the clock the midnight sun.

Flora and Fauna

Due to the generally mild climate can be found in Vesterålen typical arctic plants and further south -based plants close together. In a very small area one can find both mountain plants and flowers beach. In the forests are mainly spruce, birch, rowan, alder, bird cherry and various willow species. However, it applies only to Hinnøya natural spruce occurrence, all others were planted. The tree line varies greatly depending on location. On the seaward side it is already at about 200 m, while one has to climb 400 meters in Sortlandsundet 300 and north of Hinnøya to reach the tree line.

The Vesterålen are also known for their abundance of bird species as the fjords seabirds provide plenty of fodder. Special Representative of the bird world are bald eagles, puffins, razorbills, guillemots, shags, herons and swans. Rare species of fulmar and gannet that occur only on the sea side and the Black-tailed Godwit, which breeds in Norway only on Andøya. The most famous bird cliffs are located in Bø and Andøya.

The Vesterålen are surrounded by rich fishing waters. Almost all domiciled at the Norwegian coast fish species occur here frequently. Are particularly interesting, especially for fishing: cod, haddock, saithe, redfish, catfish, salmon, herring, tusk, ling, plaice, halibut, squid and crab. In summer months, guests can watch whales and dolphins off the coast.

Policy

The southern regions of the Vesterålen belong to Fylke Nordland, northern Troms. A total of six municipalities located on the islands: Andøy, Bø ( Nordland), Hadsel, Lødingen, Sortland and Øksnes. Lødingen was not originally the purpose, but is often described as lying lately in Vesterålen and is also listed in the official tourist guide of the region.

Economy

Apart from tourism is fishing the main industry of the region, partly combined with agriculture. The Vesterålen their benefit from a short distance to the fishing grounds. Almost all domiciled at the Norwegian coast fish species occur here frequently. The greatest importance for the regional economy have the cod and herring. In recent years, the famous Lofoten fishery has shifted more and more to the Vesterålen. So fishermen come from all corners of the country from January to April to participate in the cod fishery. Herring are caught mainly in autumn.

In addition to fishing, the fish processing and fish rearing and play a major role. Most larger towns have active fishing ports, and the products are often processed on site or nearby. A fish canning factory is located for example in Melbu on Hadsel, and in Myre on Langøya frozen fillets are produced. Approximately half of industrial employment in the region has to do with fish processing, the rest are mainly in services in the broadest sense (eg tourism, trade, transport ) as well as the civil service and educational institutions. There are also metal companies, shipyards and construction companies.

The Norway in strong position anyway the local press shows up in Vesterålen in a particularly strong density of smaller newspapers.

Traffic

The islands are connected by five bridges and two tunnels with each other and with the mainland. The European route 10 connects the Vesterålen fährfrei with European Route 6, Narvik and Sweden. The ferry from Melbu to Fiskebøl binds the Lofoten on it. Other important ferry routes are Kaljord - Hanøy to Lofoten and Lødingen - Bognes towards the mainland.

The regional bus lines are considered to be very reliable and correspond partially with flights to / from Evenes ( Airport Harstad / Narvik ), with the train to / from Narvik, with various ferry and boat connections and to each other. The two main national bus lines are the Lofotekspressen from Lofoten to Narvik and the Flybussen from Sortland to Evenes airport.

For air transport, there are two airfields, the Andøya Lufthavn in Andenes and Stokmarknes Lufthavn in Skagen, go from where regular flights to Tromsø and Bodø.

The mail boat Hurtigruten runs the places Risøyhamn (municipality Andøy ), Sortland, and Stokmarknes to.

Tourism

Often the Vesterålen be mentioned in the same breath as the famous Lofoten. Many Lofotenreisen lead almost inevitably on the Vesterålen, giving the impression that the two island groups would be only one. In fact, it is both scenic and economically to two different regions.

The best known tourist attractions in the Vesterålen are the whale, which start from Hanford and Stø. The old and picturesque fishing Nyksund was built in the last few years back and is now a popular tourist destination. In addition, the Whale was founded in 1988 in Andenes interesting starting point for travelers. Also interesting is the Hurtigruten museum in Stokmarknes, the ancient birthplace of the mail boat line.