Solvær is a group of islands in

Lurøy Municipality Lurøy 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 located on the island ...

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 ...

. They are located between the islands of

Lovund Lovund is an island and village in Lurøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located west of the Solvær islands and southeast of Træna Municipality, a neighboring island municipality. Lovund is notable for the large puffin ...

to the west and

Onøya Onøya is an island in Lurøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The administrative centre of Lurøy Municipality is located on the northwestern coast of the island. The island lies immediately south of the island of Lurøya, Nordland, L ...

to the east. The islands are located about a 90-minute ferry ride west of the mainland. Due to the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

, the climate is mild, with little snow despite its northern location.

Geography

The group consists of about 300 small and flat islands, some of which host permanent residents. Some of the main, inhabited islands include Sleneset, Moflaget, Slotterøya, Straumøya, Nordsolvær, and Sørsolvær. The main village area is Sleneset, which is also the port at which the local ferries stop on the way from

Stokkvågen Stokkvågen is a village and ferry port located in Lurøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village lies on the mainland coast of Lurøy, about west of the town of Mo i Rana. The port has ferries that connect the mainland to the islan ...

(on the mainland) to the islands of

and on to

Træna Municipality Træna 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 island/village of ...

to the west.

Moflag Church Moflag Church () is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Lurøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the island village of Moflaget. It is an annex chapel in the Lurøy parish which is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (deaner ...

, located on the island Moflaget, is the local church for the islands.

Important Bird Area

The archipelago has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of breeding

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...

s as well as of non-breeding

red-breasted merganser The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a duck species that is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solvaer Islands of Nordland Important Bird Areas of Norway Important Bird Areas of Atlantic islands Lurøy

Geography

Important Bird Area

See also

References