Andøya is the northernmost island in the

Vesterålen Vesterålen is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of Lofoten and west of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county. Sortland is the largest town, situated near the center of the archipe ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in

Andøy Municipality Andøy is the northernmost municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen archipelago. The main island in the municipality is Andøya. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Andenes. Other village ...

in Nordland county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The main population centres on the island include the villages of

Andenes is the administrative centre of Andøy Municipality which is located in the Vesterålen district of Nordland county, Norway. The village of Andenes is the northernmost settlement of the island of Andøya (and in Nordland county). To the east ...

Bleik Bleik is a fishing village in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern part of the island of Andøya, about southwest of the village of Andenes is the administrative centre of Andøy Municip ...

, and

Risøyhamn Risøyhamn is a village in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern part of the island of Andøya. The island of Andøya is connected to the neighboring island of Hinnøya by the Andøy Bridge at ...

. The island has an area of , making it the tenth largest island in Norway. The island is connected to the neighboring island of

Hinnøya Hinnøya is the fourth-largest island in Norway, and the largest outside the Svalbard archipelago. The lies just off the western coast of Northern Norway. The island sits on the border of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark counties. The western ...

via the

Andøy Bridge The Andøy Bridge ( no, Andøybrua) is a cantilever road bridge that crosses the Risøysundet strait between the islands of Andøya and Hinnøya in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The northern end of the bridge is located in th ...

. The

Andfjorden Andfjorden is a fjord on the border of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark counties in Norway. It primarily flows between the large islands of Andøya and Senja. Grytøya and the smaller islands Bjarkøya and Krøttøya are located in the fjord. Th ...

lies to the east of the island, the

Risøysundet Risøysundet is a strait between the islands of Andøya and Hinnøya in the Vesterålen archipelago in Norway. It is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county. The long strait has only one road crossing: the Andøy Bridge as part of th ...

strait lies to the south and east side of the island, and the

Gavlfjorden Gavlfjorden is a fjord (more accurately, a sound) in Nordland county, Norway. The long fjord separates the large islands of Langøya and Andøya in the Vesterålen archipelago and it runs along the border of three municipalities: Øksnes, Andø ...

lies to the southwest side. The

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

lies to the west and north. The numerous bog areas on Andøya are used for the extensive production of

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

. Andøya is also well known for its cloudberries. Besides the flat and largely continuous bog areas, Andøya also consists of steep mountain ranges reaching up to high. The sharp peak of

Kvasstinden Kvasstinden is the highest mountain on the island of Andøya in the Vesterålen archipelago in northern Norway. It is located in the southern part of Andøy Municipality in Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, No ...

is the highest point on the island at . Andøya Space, which was founded in 1962, is also located on the island near the Andøya Air Station.

Important Bird Area

A 10,000 ha area comprising low-lying boggy ground in central Andøya, along with a stretch of the eastern coast and the lake of Skogvollvatnet on the west coast, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International (BLI) because it supports several thousand barnacle and pinkfooted geese on passage migration, as well as about ten breeding pairs of

Eurasian curlew The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred ...

s. Protected areas within or overlapping the site include the Skogvoll, Risøysundet, and Åholmen

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

s and the Skogvoll and Risøysundet Ramsar sites.

Media gallery

16_To_Risøyhamn_(5657438989).jpg, Winter view near Risøyhamn Andoya3.JPG, View of Ånes and Å (closest to the sea) Andøy Bridge.jpg, Andøy Bridge linking Andøya to Hinnøya island Andoya2.jpg, View of the mountains and bogs BleikRaisedBeach&Platform.JPG, View of

References

External links

* Andøy Vesterålen Important Bird Areas of Norway Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands Nature reserves in Norway Ramsar sites in Norway {{Nordland-island-stub