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 ...
Troms og Finnmark
Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...
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 ...
. The town is also 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 ...
of the municipality of Harstad. The town has a population (2017) of 20,953 which gives the town 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 . It is the second-largest town in the former
Troms
Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...
county, after the city of Tromsø, and it is the largest town in Central Hålogaland.
The town is located on the northeastern part of the large island of Hinnøya, along the Vågsfjorden. The town is made up of several areas including
Gangsås
Gangsås or Gansås is a part of the town of Harstad within Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is situated on the southern and western sides of a small peninsula southeast of the city center. The main neighbourhoods are ''Vollen'' ...
,
Grønnebakkan
Grønnebakkan is part of the town of Harstad within Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located about south of the city centre, just south of Gangsåsbotn, west of Kanebogen, east of Harstadbotn, and southeast of Seljestad ...
,
Kanebogen
Kanebogen is part of the town of Harstad within Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located about south of the city center. Kanebogen borders the neighborhoods of Gangsås to the north, Stangnes to the northeast, Medkila to t ...
,
Medkila
Medkila is part of the town of Harstad within Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It's located south of the neighborhood of Kanebogen and north of the neighborhood of Holtet, about south of the city center.Sama, Seljestad, and
Stangnes
Stangnes is part of the town of Harstad within Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located on a small peninsula southeast of the city center, on the south and east sides of the ''Gansåsen'' hill. The neighborhood is bordered by ...
. There are two churches of the
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church ...
Trondenes Church
Trondenes Church ( no, Trondenes kirke) is the northernmost medieval stone church of Norway and the world's northernmost surviving medieval building. It is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county ...
lies just north of the town.
History
On 1 January 1904, the village of Harstad was granted town privileges as a ladested. On the same date, the new town was separated from the municipality of Trondenes to become a municipality of its own. Initially, the town of Harstad had 1,246 residents. The town of Harstad existed as its own municipality between 1 January 1904 until 31 December 1963.
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 Harstad (population: 3,808) was merged with Trondenes municipality (population: 6,567) to the north and
Sandtorg
Sandtorg is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the eastern shore of the large island of Hinnøya, on the shore of the Tjeldsundet. The village is located along the European route E10 highway i ...
municipality (population: 7,512) to the south, forming a new, much larger Harstad Municipality.
Media gallery
Harstad fra Eineberget.jpg, Panorama from westerly hill
Gangsåstoppen.jpg, View point
Harstad i februar.jpg, Winter view
Harstad2.jpg, Northern part of town
Strandgata i Harstad.jpg, Town centre
Harstadt im Februar 2005.jpg, Harstad in winter
Harstad at night seen from Gangsåstoppen.jpg, View from Gangsåstoppen
Harstad 01.jpg, Nocturnal view
Harstad kirke.JPG, Harstad Church