Vestvågøy is a

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

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 A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. It is part of the traditional district of

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, 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. T ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Leknes Leknes () is a town in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Vestvågøy Municipality (with 11,619 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality in Lofoten and Vesterålen). Lek ...

. Some of the villages in the municipality include Ballstad,

Borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. They are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "The Collective". The Borg co- ...

Bøstad Bøstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located along the European route E10 highway just next to the hamlet of Borg (and the Lofotr museum) in the central part of the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofo ...

, Gravdal, Knutstad,

Stamsund Stamsund is a fishing village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern side of the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago, along the Vestfjorden. The village is located about east of the to ...

Tangstad Tangstad is a village in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern side of the island of Vestvågøya, about west of the village of Bøstad and about north of the town of Leknes Leknes ( ...

, and Valberg. With over 11,600 inhabitants, Vestvågøy is the most populous municipality in all of the

and

Vesterålen Vesterålen ( , ; ) is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of Lofoten and west of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county. Sortland is the largest town, situated near the center of the a ...

regions in Nordland county. The

Lofotr The Lofotr Viking Museum () is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the s ...

museum in

shows a reconstructed

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

chieftain's residence, with a house measuring , built of

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and turf. The municipality is the 231st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Vestvågøy is the 99th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 11,619. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

is and its population has increased by 5.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Vestvågøy was created on 1 January 1963 when the four municipalities on the island of

Vestvågøya Vestvågøya (or less-commonly: ''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 t ...

were merged into one municipality for the whole island. The old municipalities on the island were Borge Municipality (population: 4,056),

Buksnes Municipality Buksnes is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It comprised the western part of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Ve ...

(population: 4,416), Hol Municipality (population: 3,154), and

Valberg Municipality Valberg is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1927 until 1963. The municipality covered the southeastern coast of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administrativ ...

(population: 662). Initially, Vestvågøy had 12,288 residents. The borders have not changed since.

Name

The municipality is named after the island of

. The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

name of the island was (see

), but when ''Lofoten'' became the name of the whole

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

, the island became known as ''Vestvågøy''. The first element of the name is the prefix which means "west". The middle element derives from the word which means "

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

" or "

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

". The last element is the definite form of the word which means "the

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 ...

". Thus it means "the west bay island".

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 7 September 1984. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

, two stockfish

addorsed In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a Charge (heraldry), charge, a Supporter (heraldry), supporter, or as a Crest (heraldry), crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure alwa ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is two dried

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), 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 ''Gad ...

fish (also known as

stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage li ...

. The fish have a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

which means they are commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This was chosen since the municipality is one of the main Norwegian exporters of (dried) cod or

and has been since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The arms were designed by Kjell Kvivesen.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has five parishes () within Vestvågøy Municipality. 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, ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) 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 Bodø (town), town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the sea ...

Geography

Vestvågøy Municipality is among the most scenic in Norway. It encompassed the whole island of Vestvågøya with the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

to the north and the

Vestfjorden Vestfjorden (; sometimes shortened to ''Vestfjord'' in English) 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 op ...

to the south. The island has rugged

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

s and peaks facing the southeastern coast. Towards the northwest, however, the land is flat, with extensive farmlands. Most people are found in the town of Leknes and its suburb Gravdal, where Nordland Hospital Lofoten is located. Along the southeastern coast, one finds picturesque fishing villages like Ballstad and Stamsund, where the

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally, and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports ...

(coastal ferry) stops. The coastline is dominated by high mountains, such as the tall Skottinden, and on the west coast also sandy white

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

es. Uttakleiv the most romantic beach in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, according to the British newspaper

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, and the neighbouring Hauklandsstranden is ranked by the Norwegian newspaper

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

as the best beach in Norway. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Himmeltindan. In

, the sun (

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

) is above the horizon from May 26 until July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 9 until January 4. The midnight sun is best viewed from the western beaches, such as Uttakleiv and

Eggum Eggum is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arne Eggum (born 1936), Norwegian historian * Jan Eggum (born 1951), Norwegian singer and songwriter * Jørn Eggum (born 1972), Norwegian trade unionist * Knut Eggum Johansen (born 194 ...

Climate

There is an official weather station at Leknes Airport. Vestvågøy has the rare

cold-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typica ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Csc''). Autumn and winter is much wetter than spring and summer. The driest month (July) get less than one fifth of the precipitation in the wettest month (December), fitting the mediterranean category with only 38 mm of rain, under the 40 mm required for such a classification.

Government

Vestvågøy Municipality is responsible for

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

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

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

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the

Salten og Lofoten District Court Salten is a traditional district in Nordland county, Norway. It includes the municipalities of Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen, and Hamarøy. Salten covers an area of about and has a population (2016) of about 73 ...

and the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () 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 well as the island territor ...

Municipal council

The

() of Vestvågøy is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Vestvågøy is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: * 1963-1963: Alsing Wik ( H) * 1964–1967: Walter Tjønndal ( Ap) * 1968–1969:

Boy Rist Boy Roald Rist (1 January 1912 – 16 November 1972) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. He was a naval officer, and a member Norwegian Independent Company 1 a part of Specia ...

( H) * 1970–1971: Karl Leirfall ( Sp) * 1972–1973:

Eivind Bolle Eivind Albin Andreas Bolle (13 October 1923 – 10 June 2012) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Hol Municipality. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Nordland in 1973, and was re-elected on two occasio ...

( Ap) * 1974–1975: Johannes Sundrønning ( Ap) * 1976–1977: Petter Limstrand ( Sp) * 1978–1981: Johannes Sundrønning ( Ap) * 1982–1983: Petter Limstrand ( Sp) * 1984–1987:

Søren Fredrik Voie Søren Fredrik Voie (born 20 March 1949, in Vestvågøy Municipality) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party of Norway. He was elected in 2001 to the Storting, Norwegian Parliament from Nordland (Storting constituency), Nordland, on ...

( H) * 1988–1991: Karl Sverre Klevstad ( KrF) * 1992–1999: Frank Rist ( Sp) * 1999–2007:

Guri Ingebrigtsen Guri Helene Ingebrigtsen (19 May 1952 – 5 January 2020) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Ingebrigtsen was born in Værøy Municipality. In the 1970s she was a member of the leftist Workers' Communist Party (AKP). In 1986, she ...

( Ap) * 2007–2015:

Jonny Finstad Jonny Finstad (born 19 May 1966) is a Norwegian politician. He was elected representative to the Storting for the period 2017–2021 for the Conservative Party (Norway), Conservative Party. References

1966 births Living people Co ...

( H) * 2015–2023: Remi Solberg ( Ap) * 2023–present:

1966 births Living people Co ...

( H)

Transportation

Leknes is the municipal and

and is situated in the geographical middle of Lofoten, approximately west of the town of

Svolvær (Norwegian language, Norwegian, ), , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Vågan Municipality in Nordland County, Norway. It is located on the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago, alon ...

and east of the village of Å. Leknes is the trading and shopping centre of Lofoten, only rivaled by Svolvær.

Leknes Airport Leknes Airport (; ) is a regional airport serving the town of Leknes and the surrounding areas in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The airport is located just outside Leknes in Vestvågøy Municipality. The European rou ...

is for smaller aircraft, with 7 daily scheduled flights to

Bodø Airport Bodø Airport is a civil airport in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the Bodø peninsula, it shares facilities with the military air force base ...

and some daily flights to Svolvær and

Røst Airport Røst Airport (; ) is a regional airport serving Røst Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The airport is located on the northern edge of the main island of Røstlandet, just north of the main village of Røstlandet. It is owned and oper ...

with

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 48 aircraft includes 45 De Havilland Dash 8 turboprops as well as 3 Embraer 1 ...

airlines. There is a small

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devices for a computer * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together ** Battery terminal, electrical contact used to ...

which serves as a hub with bus links to the rest of Lofoten. The ''Leknes Havn'' (

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

) is one of Norway's most important and visited harbors for

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s. The

boats have been an important means of communication and transportation for a century. It docks in

twice every night, one heading south towards Bodø the other heading north towards

. 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 in length. The Norwegian part of the road is also named Kong Ol ...

highway crosses the municipality (and island) with the

Sundklakkstraumen Bridge The Sundklakkstraumen Bridge () is a cantilever road bridge that crosses the Sundklakkstraumen strait between the islands of Gimsøya (in Vågan Municipality) and Vestvågøya (in Vestvågøy Municipality) in Nordland county, Norway. The bridge is ...

connecting to

Vågan Municipality Vågan () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of to ...

in the north and the Nappstraumen Tunnel connecting to

Flakstad Municipality Flakstad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of the island group Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is ...

in the south.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Vestvågøy has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

agreements with the following places: *

Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur (, ) is a small municipality in south-central Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North A ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Notable people

* Hartvig Jentoft (1693 in Borge – 1739), a tradesman and sailor * Karl Uchermann (1855 in Borge – 1940), a painter of dogs and altarpieces *

Mikael Heggelund Foslie Mikael Heggelund Foslie (21 October 1855 – 9 November 1909) was a Norwegian botanist and algaeologist. Foslie was curator of the NTNU University Museum, Royal Norwegian Scientific Society Museum (now NTNU University Museum) in Trondheim (city ...

(1855 in Borge – 1909), a botanist and

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

ologist * Jens R. Nilssen (1880 in Valberg – 1964), an illustrator, comics creator, and cartoonist *

Edvarda Lie Edvarda Klaudine Lie (April 3, 1910 – June 8, 1983) was a Norwegians, Norwegian painter, drawer, and illustrator. Edvarda Lie was born in Meldal (village), Meldal and grew up in Vestvågøy Municipality. She created illustrations for many news ...

(1910–1963), a painter, drawer, and illustrator who was brought up in Vestvågøy *

(1912 in Gravdal – 1972), a naval officer and member of the

Norwegian resistance The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governm ...

in WWII * Harald Sverdrup (1923 in Gravdal – 1992), a poet and children's writer * Kari Wærness (born 1939 in Leknes), a sociologist *

(born 1949 in Vestvågøy), a politician who was Mayor of Vestvågøy from 1983-1987 *

(1952–2020), a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who was Mayor of Vestvågøy from 1999 to 2007 *

Aga Khan V Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan (; born 12 October 1971), known as the Aga Khan V (), is a religious leader, businessman, and socialite best known as the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Nizari Isma'ili Muslims who claim descent from Muhamm ...

(born 1971), who bought a house in Unstad in 2019 (before succeeding to the Imamate)

Media gallery

Unnstad.JPG, Unstad; Vestvågøy has the largest areas of lowland in Lofoten Bulitinden-vestvagoya-lofoten-norway.jpg, View south-west from the summit of Bulitinden Sundklakkstraumen bru.JPG, Sundklakkstraumen Bridge File:Lake_near_Borg.jpg, Near Borg in Vestvågøy Vestvagoya-skottinden-winter.jpg, The mountain Skottinden in winter sunshine

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, 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 year on its web site. All rele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vestvaagoy Municipalities of Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway 1963 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1963