Skrova is a small island group and village area in
Vågan Municipality
Vågan ( sme, Vuogát) 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 Svolvær. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen, ...
in
Nordland
Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
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 t ...
.
Village
The
fishing village
A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...
of Skrova lies on the northern part of the island group. It exists mostly on the island of ''Heimskrova'', but also includes parts of five other islands, including the northwestern edge of the large islands of Skrova. The village is connected to the town of
Svolvær
Svolvær () is the administrative centre of Vågan Municipality in Nordland County, Norway. It is located on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago, along the Vestfjorden. The town has a population (2018) of 4,720 which gives the ...
(also in Vågan Municipality) and the village of
Skutvika
Skutvika or Skutvik is a small village in the municipality of Hamarøy in Nordland county, Norway. The village is situated at the southwestern extreme of the Hamarøya peninsula, about north of the Bodø (town), town of Bodø, southwest of the ...
(in
Hamarøy Municipality
Hamarøy ( smj, Hábmer) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppeid. Other villages include Drag, Innhavet, Karlsøy, ...
on the mainland) by regularly scheduled
ferry routes
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
. The village has a population (2017) of 182, with nearly all the residents living in the village and the rest of the island group being virtually uninhabited.
The village gained privileged trading rights in 1760, and for a long time, it was the largest fishing village in
Lofoten
Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...
.
Industry
The main industry in Skrova is
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
,
fish farming
upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Fish farming or ...
, and
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
. It is one of the largest whaling stations in Norway, taking in about half of the whale meat in Norway each year. The heyday of Skrova was in the 1970s and 1980s, when fishing and whaling were booming. Since the year 2000, there is now only one fishing factory, called ''Ellingsen's''.
Geography and climate
The Skrova island group is part of the
Lofoten
Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...
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 Archi ...
in the
Vestfjorden
Vestfjorden is a long fjord or oceanic sea in Nordland county, Norway.
The name literally means "the west fjord", although it is called a fjord, it could best be described as a firth or an open bight of sea. The "fjord" lies between the Lofote ...
south of the island
Austvågøya. Skrova is about southeast of the town of
Svolvær
Svolvær () is the administrative centre of Vågan Municipality in Nordland County, Norway. It is located on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago, along the Vestfjorden. The town has a population (2018) of 4,720 which gives the ...
. It close to
Litlmolla
Litlmolla is an uninhabited island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island lies east of the town of Svolvær in the Vestfjorden. The island is located in the Lofoten archipelago, south of the large island of Austvågøya, ...
and
Stormolla
Stormolla is an island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Lofoten islands, south of the large islands of Austvågøya and Hinnøya and northeast of the smaller islands of Litlmolla and Skrova. The highest p ...
. The largest island in the group is ''Storskrova'' and the island of ''Heimskrova'' is where most of the population is located. The six main inhabited islands in the group are all interconnected by a small bridge and several man-made
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
s.
Skrova Lighthouse
Skrova Lighthouse ( no, Skrova fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on a small skerry southwest of the island of Skrova which is in the Vestfjorden south of the island of Austvågøya.
...
is located in the southwestern part of the island group, about 2 km away from the village of same name.
It was established in 1922 and not fully automated until 2005. There is also a meteorological weather station in the island group, near the lighthouse, with one of the longest recording series in Nordland county.
Skrova has a temperate
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(Cfb) despite the location 180 km north of the Arctic Circle. The warmest temperature recorded is in June 1972. The coldest temperature recorded is in February 1966. The wettest month recorded is December 1936 with 227 mm, and the driest is January 2014 with 0.9 mm.
Media gallery
Skrova - panoramio (1).jpg
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Skrova - panoramio (8).jpg
Skrova 20141123 105127.jpg
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Skrova2010..jpg
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
This is a list of islands of Norway sorted by name. For a list sorted by area, see List of islands of Norway by area.
A
* Alden
* Aldra
* Algrøy
* Alsta
* Altra
* Anda
* Andabeløya
* Andørja
* Andøya, Vesterålen
* Andøya, Agder
* Ar ...
References
External links
*http://www.skrova.no
{{authority control
Villages in Nordland
Islands of Nordland
Vågan
Populated places of Arctic Norway