Brønnøysund () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

Brønnøy Municipality Brønnøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre and commercial centre of the municipality is the town of Brønnøysund. A secondary centre is the village of Hommelstø. Ot ...

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, ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. It is also a former municipality within

county. The village of Brønnøysund originally was declared a ladested in 1923 which made it an independent municipality. After merging with Brønnøy in 1964, it lost its town status. Then in 2000, it once again received

town status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

. The town lies along the coast and is often called "the coastal town in the middle of Norway." Brønnøysund is also the regional center of Southern

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svarti ...

. The town has a population (2018) of 5,045 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of .

History

During the

Viking era The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the ...

, ''Torgar'', by the foot of the legendary mountain

Torghatten Torghatten is a granite dome on the island of Torget in Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is known for its characteristic hole, or natural tunnel, through its center. It is possible to walk up to the tunnel on a well-prepar ...

, was a nationally powerful chieftain seat and an important commercial center along the coast. The original inhabitants were wiped out in an outright massacre by ''Duke Skule'' and his men in the Norwegian civil wars that raged around 1240, in the high medieval era of Norway. The region was re-populated by immigrants from

Southern Norway Southern Norway ( no, Sørlandet; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function. It rough ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, which could explain the unique dialect with a Swedish-like intonation. In May 1945 "the prisoners oreign POWsfrom Ylvingen" were transported by ship from the harbour at Brønnøysund. ("the song saved my life") documents the farewell to Igor Trapitsin and the other Soviet ex-POWs from the harbour at Brønnøysund.

Municipal history

The village of Brønnøysund was established as a municipality on 1 January 1923 when it was separated from

when it became a ladested (town) and municipality of its own. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post- World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Munici ...

. On 1 January 1964, the town of Brønnøysund (population: 2,064) was merged with Velfjord Municipality (population: 1,380), Sømna Municipality (population: 2,347),

(population: 2,635), and the Lande-Tosen area of

Bindal Municipality Bindal is a municipality in the Helgeland region in the extreme southwest part of Nordland county, Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Terråk. Other villages include Bindalseidet, Holm, Vassås, Horsfjord and Åbygda. The m ...

to form a new, enlarged

. At that time, it lost its status as a ladested (town). In 2000, after some changes to Norwegian law, the municipality of Brønnøy designated Brønnøysund as a town once again.

Municipal council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Brønnøysund was made up of representatives that were elected to four-year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Economy

The town of Brønnøysund has a population (2013) of 4,625 and a

of . It is also the administrative and commercial centre of the municipality of Brønnøy. In recent years, Brønnøysund has managed to create a certain economic growth. ''Fjord Seafood'' originated here, as well as the largest

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

mine in Northern Europe and the highest foodstuff production in Northern Norway are examples of entrepreneurship and well-run economy in this somewhat prosperous region. Modern agriculture, hydroponics, the large TTS transport corporation,

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

and tourism are the main driving industries.

Transportation

Brønnøysund has daily visits by the

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports no ...

(Coastal Express), northbound at night and southbound in the afternoon. It has its own airport, Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy, and a direct eastbound connection to the

European route E6 European route E6 ( no, Europavei 6, sv, Europaväg 6, or simply E6) is the main north-south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and thr ...

highway. Throughout Norway, the town is known as the location of the

Brønnøysund Register Centre Brønnøysund Register Centre (Norwegian Bokmål: Brønnøysundregistrene; formal name Registerenheten i Brønnøysund, Norwegian Nynorsk: Brønnøysundregistra) is a Norwegian government agency that is responsible for the management of numerou ...

, in which the new e-government portal Altinn is the newest addition. Torghatten ASA has its headquarters in Brønnøysund.

Airport

Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy is located only about from the town centre, and is a vital communications link not only for the town, but also for a large region surrounding the town. The airport opened in 1968, providing modern and much needed, time-effective transportation to the region, and making it possible to reach both the capital and medical services within an acceptable timeframe. In May 2010, the direct flight to Oslo was launched, and since April 2011 there are three daily departures for Oslo with a 50-seat plane. There are also connections to

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located o ...

Mo i Rana Mo i Rana () is a city, and the administrative centre of the municipality of Rana, in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just south of the Arctic Circle. Some of the city's suburbs include Båsmoen and Yt ...

Rørvik Rørvik is a port town and administrative centre in the municipality of Nærøysund in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is on the eastern side of the Vikna archipelago on the island of Inner-Vikna. The town has a population (2022) of 3,385 and a p ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

, and

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland coun ...

. It is served by Norway's oldest airline,

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 ...

. It is also base for some of the offshore helicopter services, making it possible to exploit the vast petroleum resources offshore.

Culture

The town has a number of cultural institutions: * Brønnøysund Musikkorps (wind band) * Brønnøysund Mannskor (male choir) * Kor i Øyan (mixed choir) The NRK series ''Himmelblå'', a franchise of the British '' Two Thousand Acres of Sky'', was filmed in part in Brønnøysund and on various locations nearby. The local Brønnøy Church serves the town of Brønnøysund.

Geography

Brønnøysund sits on a narrow peninsula on the mainland surrounded by islands and water. The town is connected to the island Torget by the Brønnøysund Bridge.

Climate

Brønnøysund 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 ...

with mild winters (Koppen ''Cfb'') considering the northerly location, and a long frost-free season. 9 of the 12 monthly all-time lows are from 1940 or older; 3 from before 1900. The coldest low after 2000 is from February 2010. The all-time low was recorded in February 1966, and the all-time high was set on July 27th 2019.

In popular culture

*The 2015 documentary film ''Sangen reddet mitt liv'' ("the song saved my life") documents the farewell to Igor Trapitsin and the other Soviet ex-POWs from the harbour at Brønnøysund. Frøkenosen fra sørenden

References

External links

bronnoysund.com - local portal for Brønnøysund and Brønnøy

Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050115083750/http://www.brreg.no/english/ Brønnøysund Register Centre
Images of the Brønnøysund Area, Dana Morris

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronnoysund Former municipalities of Norway Populated places in Nordland Cities and towns in Norway Brønnøy 1923 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway