Vågan ( sme, Vuogát) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

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 A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

. It is part of the traditional district of

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 ...

. 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 is the

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 ori ...

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 t ...

. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen,

Gimsøysand Gimsøysand or Gimsøy is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern shore of the island of Gimsøya Gimsøya is an island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Gims� ...

, Gravermarka, Henningsvær, Hopen,

Kabelvåg Kabelvåg is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the adminis ...

, Kleppstad, Laupstad, Liland,

Skrova Skrova is a small island group and village area in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Village The fishing village of Skrova lies on the northern part of the island group. It exists mostly on the island of ''Heimskrova'', but also ...

, Straumnes, and Sydalen. The municipality is the 210th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vågan is the 115th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,724. The municipality's

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 RosenberPopul ...

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 () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

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

(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 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 Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Gimsøy (population: 1,551),

(population: 3,952), and Vågan (population: 4,820) were merged to form the new, larger municipality of Vågan.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

) is named after the old ''Vågan'' farm (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Vágar''), since the first

Vågan Church Vågan Church ( no, Vågan kirke; nickname: ''Lofoten Cathedral'') is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kabelvåg on the island of Austvågøya. It is the ...

was built there. The name is the

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

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 Vestvågøya or Vest-Vågøy is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located within Vestvågøy Municipality. The island lies between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya to the northeast and Flakst ...

). The name was historically spelled ''Vaagan''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 30 March 1973. The arms show a white colored

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

on a blue background. This was chosen because

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 ...

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 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 b ...

has five parishes () within the municipality of Vågan. It is part of the

Lofoten prosti 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, Svolvæ ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the seat of the ...

Geography

The main population centres are the town of

and the villages of

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 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 Lofo ...

. Vågan municipality includes over half of Austvågøya island, all of the islands of

Gimsøya Gimsøya is an island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Gimsøya is situated between the islands of Austvågøya and Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. The island has a population (2016) of 181. The European route E10 ...

, Stormolla,

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 ...

, numerous other tiny islets, plus the southwestern tip of the 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 pa ...

. The Moholmen Lighthouse and

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. ...

are both located in the Vestfjorden. Two notable mountains in the municipality are

Higravstinden Higravtindan or Higravstindan is the tallest mountain on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the border of Hadsel Municipality and Vågan Municipality. The village of Laupstad and ...

and

Svolværgeita Svolværgeita or Geita ( sme, Spålla) is a tall pinnacle at the southwest face of the mountain Fløyfjellet on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. The high Fløyfjellet is located on the edge of the town of Svolvær in Vå ...

. Other mountains include Fløyfjellet,

Trakta Litlkorsnestinden, or Trakta ( en, The Funnel), is a mountain in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The tall mountain lies on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago, just north of the Trollfjorden. The summit is the ...

, and

Vågakallen Vågakallen is a mountain in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It has a height of 942 or 943 m.a.s.l., and is located in the island of Austvågøy in the Lofoten archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island ...

Climate

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

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vågan, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

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 counci ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The municipality falls under the

Lofoten District Court Lofoten District Court ( no, Lofoten tingrett) was a district court in Nordland county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Svolvær. The court existed until 2021. It served the municipalities of Flakstad, Moskenes, Vestvågøy, and V� ...

and the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal ( no, Hålogaland lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as ...

Municipal council

The

() of Vågan is made up of 29 representatives that are 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 feature f ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Vågan (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

is the oldest

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 ...

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 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

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

are economically important in Vågan.

Transportation

The islands that make up Vågan are connected by several different bridges. The

European route E10 European route E10 is the second shortest Class A road which is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Å, Norway and ends in Luleå, Sweden. The road is about 850 km (530 mi) in length. The Norwegian part of the ...

highway connects the neighboring municipality of

Vestvågøy Vestvågøy 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 Leknes. Some of the villages in the municipality include Ballstad, Borg, B� ...

to Vågan (Gimsøya island) by the Sundklakkstraumen Bridge. Gimsøya island connects to Austvågøya island by the

Gimsøystraumen Bridge The Gimsøystraumen Bridge ( no, Gimsøystraumen bru / Gimsøybrua) is a cantilever road bridge that crosses the Gimsøystraumen strait between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The conc ...

. 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 Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Notable people

Eystein I of Norway Eystein Magnusson (Old Norse: ''Eysteinn Magnússon'', Norwegian: ''Øystein Magnusson''; c. 1088 – 29 August 1123) was King of Norway (as Eystein I) from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although s ...

(ca.1088–1123) King of Norway, 1103 to 1123; founded Vågan *

Paul Egede Paul or Poul Hansen Egede (9 September 1708 – 6 June 1789) was a Dano-Norwegian theologian, missionary, and scholar who was principally concerned with the Lutheran mission among the Kalaallit people in Greenland that had been established by his ...

(1708 in Kabelvåg – 1789) a Dano-Norwegian theologian, scholar and Lutheran missionionary to the

Kalaallit Kalaallit make up the largest group of the Greenlandic Inuit and are concentrated in Kitaa. It is also a contemporary term in the Greenlandic language for the indigenous people living in Greenland (Greenlandic ''Kalaallit Nunaat'').Hessel, 8 The ...

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 Erna Kamilla Schøyen (born Erna Kamille Berg, March 1, 1887 – December 21, 1968) was a Norwegian actress. Career Schøyen trained as an actress at the National Theatre from 1905 to 1906, and she had her debut at the Fahlstrøm Theater in 19 ...

(born 1887 in Kabelvåg – 1968) a Norwegian actress *

Gisken Wildenvey Gisken Wildenvey (23 March 1892 – 14 January 1985) was a Norwegian novelist and author of short stories. Jonette Pauline Andreassen was born at Austvågøy at Vågan in Lofoten, Norway. She was the daughter of farmer Anton Lauritz Andre ...

(1892 at Austvågøy – 1985) a novelist and author of short stories *

Soffi Schønning Soffi Schønning (October 2, 1895 – September 9, 1994) was a Norwegian operatic soprano. Schønning was born in Kabelvåg. She studied under Borghild Langaard in Christiania, and under Mme. Luisa Cappiani in London . She made her professiona ...

(1895 in Kabelvåg – 1994) a Norwegian operatic soprano *

Ellen Einan Ellen Einan (5 June 1931 – 25 March 2013) was a Norwegian poet and illustrator. Biography Ellen Einan was born at Svolvaer in Nordland, Norway, on 5 June 1931. Einan was known throughout Norway for her compact writing style, mystical vocabul ...

(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 Joakim Jan Aril "Jack" Berntsen (14 October 1940 – 5 October 2010) was a Norwegian philologist, songwriter and folk singer. He was born in Kjøpsvik, Tysfjord. He grew up in Hamarøy, and resided in Svolvær from 1968. Berntsen founded ...

(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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

* Maryon Eilertsen (1950 in Svolvær – 2015) a Norwegian actress and theatre director *

Kari Bremnes Kari Bremnes (born 9 December 1956) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. She got an MA in language, literature, history and theatre studies from the University of Oslo, and worked as a journalist for several years before deciding to dedicate h ...

(born 1956 in Svolvær) a Norwegian singer and songwriter *

Marit Andreassen Marit Adeleide Andreassen (born 29 March 1966 in Svolvær, Nordland) is a Norwegian actress, born in Svolvær. She graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 1993, and has since worked both at Oslo Nye Teater and at Nationalthe ...

(born 1966 in Svolvær) a Norwegian actress IMDb Database
retrieved 17 January 2021 *

Maria Strømme Maria Strømme, (born 7 April 1970 in Svolvær) is a Norwegian physicist who lives and works in Sweden. Career She became a professor in nanotechnology at Uppsala University in 2004. She is Sweden's youngest professor in a technical subject. ...

(born 1970 in Svolvær) a physicist and academic who lives and works in Sweden

Sport

Terje Hanssen Terje Hanssen (born 20 September 1948 in Kabelvåg, Lofoten) is a former Norwegian biathlete. At the 1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, f ...

(born 1948 in Kabelvåg) a former biathlete, competed at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

* 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 Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt () is a Norwegian professional football club from the town of Bodø that currently plays in Eliteserien, the Norwegian top division. The club was founded in 1916 and is frequently referred to by its original club na ...

Stig Johansen Stig Johansen (born 13 June 1972 in Kabelvåg, Lofoten) is a former Norwegian football striker. He made his debut for Bodø/Glimt in 1993 and played 70 games before he was signed by English Premiership side Southampton, in 1997. His spell at the ...

(born 1972 in Kabelvåg) a former footballer with 305 club caps and 3 for

Gallery

File:Austnesfjorden_20170720_174113.jpg, Austnesfjorden File:Lofoten-4.jpg, Henningsvær. File:Vagakallen wiki.jpg,

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 Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

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