Rødøya is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Alstahaug Municipality Alstahaug is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Some of the villages in Alstahaug include Søvika and Tjøtta. Most resi ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The island lies at the mouth of the

Vefsnfjorden Vefsnfjorden is a fjord in the traditional district of Helgeland in Nordland county, Norway. It is about long, reaching a maximum depth of about below sea level. The fjord flows through Alstahaug Municipality, Leirfjord Municipality, and Ve ...

and the Halsfjorden. The island is home to 23 people (in 2017), living mostly on the southern part of the island. The island is mountainous, especially in the north where the tall mountain ''Rødøyfjellet'' is located. The island is made up of a red-weathered

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

and

chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...

. The name of the island literally means "red island" in the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

, a name that was given because of the red color of the rocks. The island is only accessible by boat and there are car ferry connections to the villages of Stokka and Forvika on the mainland in

Vevelstad Municipality Vevelstad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of For ...

. There are also ferry connections to the nearby islands of

Mindlandet Mindlandet is an island in Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island lies at the mouth of the Vefsnfjorden, just south of the islands of Tjøtta (island), Tjøtta and Rødøya, Alstahaug, Rødøya. The island is fairly flat, ...

(to the west) and Tjøtta (to the north). The ferry service from Vevelstad-Rødøya-Mindlandet-Tjøtta is included as part of the

Norwegian County Road 17 County Road 17 (), also known as the Coastal Highway (), is a Norwegian highway that runs from the town of Bodø in Nordland county (in the north) to the town of Steinkjer in Trøndelag county (in the south). It is long and includes six ferry ...

, a main highway on the

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, 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 moun ...

coast.

History

Rødøya is known for its approximately 5000-year-old

rock carvings A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

showing a

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...

, probably the oldest evidence of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

found anywhere in the world. These are located near the village of Tro on the southern part of the island. These

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s were used as backgrounds during the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

. These rock carvings were heavily damaged by vandalism carried out two Norwegian youths in 2016.

References

Alstahaug Islands of Nordland {{Nordland-island-stub

History

See also

References