Vestvågøy
Vestvågøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leknes. Some of the villages in the municipality include Ballstad, Borg, Bøstad, Gravdal, Knutstad, Stamsund, and Tangstad. With over 11,300 inhabitants, Vestvågøy is the most populous municipality in all of the Lofoten and Vesterålen regions in Nordland county. The Lofotr museum in Borg shows a reconstructed Iron Age Viking chieftain's residence, with a house measuring , built of stone and turf. The municipality is the 232nd largest by area out of the  356 municipalities in Norway. Vestvågøy is the 99th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 11,433. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.1% over the previous 10-year period. General information. The municipality of Vestvågøy was created on 1 January 1963 when the four municipalities on the island of Vestvågøya were merged into one municipality for the whole island. The old municipalities on the island were Borge (population: 4,056), Buksnes (population: 4,416), Hol (population: 3,154), and Valberg (population: 662). Initially, Vestvågøy had 12,288 residents. The borders have not changed since. Name. The  municipality is named after the island of Vestvågøya. The Old Norse name of the island was "Lófót" (see Lofoten) - but when "Lofoten" became the name of the whole archipelago, the old name was replaced with "Vestvågøy". Vestvågøy can be broken down into three parts: "vest-våg-øy" which can be roughly translated as "west-bay-island". Coat of arms. The coat of arms is from modern times; they were granted on 7 September 1984. The arms show two dried codfish in white on a blue background. This was chosen since the municipality is one of the main Norwegian exporters of  (dried) cod or stockfish and has been since the Middle Ages. Churches. The Church of Norway has five parishes () within the municipality of Vestvågøy. It is part of the Lofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. Geography. Vestvågøy municipality is among the most scenic in Norway. It encompassed the whole island of Vestvågøya with the Norwegian Sea to the north and the Vestfjorden to the south. The island has rugged cliffs and peaks facing the southeastern coast. Towards the northwest, however, the land is flat, with extensive farmlands. Most people are found in the town of Leknes and  in its "twin town" Gravdal, where Nordland Hospital is located. Along the southeastern coast, one finds picturesque fishing villages like Ballstad and Stamsund, where the Hurtigruten (coastal ferry) stops. The coastline is dominated by high mountains, such as the tall Skottinden, and on the west coast also sandy white beaches. Uttakleiv the most romantic beach in Europe, according to the British newspaper The Times, and the neighbouring Hauklandsstranden is ranked by the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet as the best beach in Norway. In Leknes, the sun (midnight sun) is above the horizon from May 26 until July 17, and in winter  the sun does not rise from December 9 until January 4. The midnight sun is best viewed from the western beaches, such as Uttakleiv and Eggum. Climate. There is an official weather station at Leknes Airport. Autumn and winter is much wetter than spring and summer. The driest month (July) get less than one fift of the precipitaiton in the wettest month (December). Government. All municipalities in Norway, including Vestvågøy, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by  a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal. Municipal council. The municipal council () of Vestvågøy is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows: Transportation. Leknes is the municipal and administrative centre and is situated in the geographical middle of Lofoten, approximately west of Svolvær and east of Å. Leknes is the trading and shopping centre of Lofoten, only rivaled by Svolvær. Leknes Airport is for smaller aircraft, with  7 daily scheduled flights to Bodø and some daily flights to Svolvær and Røst with Widerøe airlines. There is a small bus terminal which serves as a hub with bus links to the rest of Lofoten. The "Leknes Havn" (harbor) is one of Norway's most important and visited harbors for cruise ships. Hurtigruten has been an important means of communication for a century. It docks in Stamsund twice every night, one heading south towards Bodø the other heading north towards Svolvær. The European route E10 highway crosses the municipality (and island) with the Sundklakkstraumen Bridge connecting to Vågan in  the north and the Nappstraumen Tunnel connecting to Flakstad in the south. International relations. Twin towns – Sister cities. Vestvågøy is twinned with: