VÃ¥gan komm.svg

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, Gimsøysand, Gravermarka, Henningsvær, Hopen, Kabelvåg, Kleppstad, Laupstad, Liland, Skrova, Straumnes, and Sydalen.

The municipality is the 210th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. VÃ¥gan is the 115th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,724. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Vågan was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1856, the northwestern part of Vågan Municipality (population: 987) was separated to form the new Gimsøy Municipality. On 1 July 1918, the town of Svolvær (population: 2,429) was separated to form its own municipality. This left Vågan with 3,399 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Gimsøy (population: 1,551), Svolvær (population: 3,952), and Vågan (population: 4,820) were merged to form the new, larger municipality of Vågan.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Vågan'' farm ( Old Norse: ''Vágar''), since the first Vågan Church was built there. The name is the plural form of ''vág'' which means "bay". The island of Austvågøya (Old Norse: ''Vágøy'') was named after this important site (which later led the neighboring island to be named Vestvågøya). The name was historically spelled ''Vaagan''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 March 1973. The arms show a white colored cod on a blue background. This was chosen because fishing is the main source of income for the municipality. The cod was also part of the older arms of the town/municipality of Svolvær.

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes () within the municipality of Vågan. It is part of the Lofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography

The main population centres are the town of Svolvær and the villages of Kabelvåg and Henningsvær, located on the largest island, Austvågøya (although Svolvær and Henningsvær are partly located on smaller islands adjacent to the main island). All three have a picturesque situation under the rugged Lofoten mountains, facing the rough body of water called Vestfjorden. Vågan municipality includes over half of Austvågøya island, all of the islands of Gimsøya, Skrova, Stormolla, Litlmolla, numerous other tiny islets, plus the southwestern tip of the island of Hinnøya. The Moholmen Lighthouse and Skrova Lighthouse are both located in the Vestfjorden. Two notable mountains in the municipality are Higravstinden and Svolværgeita. Other mountains include Fløyfjellet, Trakta, and Vågakallen.

Climate

Skrova near Svolvær has a temperate climate (marine west coast) in the 1991-2020 period.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including VÃ¥gan, 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 HÃ¥logaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of VÃ¥gan is made up of 29 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of VÃ¥gan (incomplete list):
*2019–present: Frank Johnsen ( Sp)
*2011-2019: Eivind Holst ( H)
*1999-2011: Hugo Bjørnstad ( Ap)
*1983-1995: Steinar Molvik (Ap)
*1911-1913: Jonas Pedersen ( V)

History and economy

Kabelvåg is the oldest fishing village in Lofoten, where King Øystein built the first fishing shacks in the early 12th century. The Lofoten Cathedral, built in 1898, seats 1,200 people, and used to be filled to the last seat during the Lofoten fishing in the winter.

Henningsvær has a picturesque situation on several islands, and is today more important for fishing. Svolvær is the municipal centre, and has an impressive number of artists' studios and galleries. In addition to the cod fisheries, salmon fish farming and tourism are economically important in Vågan.

Transportation

The islands that make up Vågan are connected by several different bridges. The European route E10 highway connects the neighboring municipality of Vestvågøy to Vågan (Gimsøya island) by the Sundklakkstraumen Bridge. Gimsøya island connects to Austvågøya island by the Gimsøystraumen Bridge. The islands of Henningsvær are connected to Austvågøya by the Henningsvær Bridges. The rest of the small islands are only accessible by boats and ferries. In the town of Svolvær, the Svinøy Bridge connects the main part of town to the island of Svinøya. Svolvær Airport, Helle is located just east of the town of Svolvær.

Sister cities

* Ancona, Italy

Notable people

* Eystein I of Norway (ca.1088–1123) King of Norway, 1103 to 1123; founded Vågan
* Paul Egede (1708 in Kabelvåg – 1789) a Dano-Norwegian theologian, scholar and Lutheran missionionary to the Kalaallit people in Greenland
* Niels Rasch Egede (1710 in Vågan – 1782) a Danish-Norwegian merchant and Lutheran missionary in Greenland
* Gunnar Berg (1863 on Svinøya – 1893) painted the everyday life of local fishermen in Lofoten
* Martin Hoff Ekroll (1865 in Skroven – 1916) a merchant, mountaineer and Arctic explorer
* Erna Schøyen (born 1887 in Kabelvåg – 1968) a Norwegian actress
* Gisken Wildenvey (1892 at Austvågøy – 1985) a novelist and author of short stories
* Soffi Schønning (1895 in Kabelvåg – 1994) a Norwegian operatic soprano
* Ellen Einan (1931 in Svolvær – 2013) a Norwegian poet and illustrator
* Dagfinn Bakke (1933–2019 in Svolvær) a Norwegian painter, illustrator and printmaker
* Hans Christian Alsvik (1936 in Svolvær – 2011) a Norwegian television presenter
* Jack Berntsen (1940–2010) a philologist, songwriter and folk singer; lived in Svolvær from 1968
* Inger Johanne Grytting (born 1949 in Svolvær) an artist, lives and works in New York City
* Maryon Eilertsen (1950 in Svolvær – 2015) a Norwegian actress and theatre director
* Kari Bremnes (born 1956 in Svolvær) a Norwegian singer and songwriter
* Marit Andreassen (born 1966 in Svolvær) a Norwegian actress IMDb Database
retrieved 17 January 2021
* Maria Strømme (born 1970 in Svolvær) a physicist and academic who lives and works in Sweden

Sport

* Terje Hanssen (born 1948 in Kabelvåg) a former biathlete, competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics
* Ørjan Løvdal (born 1962 in Svolvær) a Norwegian ice hockey player and coach
* Cato André Hansen (born 1972 in Strauman) a football coach and former player with 234 caps for FK Bodø/Glimt
* Stig Johansen (born 1972 in Kabelvåg) a former footballer with 305 club caps and 3 for Norway

Gallery

File:Austnesfjorden_20170720_174113.jpg, Austnesfjorden
File:Lofoten-4.jpg, Henningsvær.
File:Vagakallen wiki.jpg, Vågakallen towers over Henningsvær, seen from Kabelvåg.
File:Vågan kirke-Kabelvåg.jpg, Kabelvåg landscape with the Vågan Church; early June 2009.

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Lofoten Golf Links
Golf court at Gimsøy in Vågan
Laukvikøyene nature reserve, a wetland area with rich bird life

Polarlightcenter

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaagan

Municipalities of Nordland
Populated places of Arctic Norway
1838 establishments in Norway