Sortland
In 1997, the municipal council declared "town status" for the urban area of Sortland. Sortland is the largest town and commercial centre in Vesterålen. The town of Sortland is located close to the Sortland Bridge which crosses the Sortlandsundet strait and connects the two large islands of Langøya and Hinnøya by road. Since a lot of houses in the town are painted blue, Sortland is sometimes referred to as "the blue city".
The 722 km2 municipality is the 159th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sortland is the 109th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 10,468. The municipality's population density is 15 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 4.9% over the previous 10-year period. In January 2012, the number of citizens in Sortland reached 10,000 for the first time.
The municipality of Sortland was established in 1841 when it was separated from the large Hadsel Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the Holm area (population: 65) along the Gavlfjorden was transferred from Langenes Municipality to Sortland. Also on that date, the area around the inner and western part of the Eidsfjorden (population: 1,360) was transferred from Hadsel Municipality to Sortland. On 1 January 2000, the area surrounding the Godfjorden was transferred from Kvæfjord Municipality (and Troms county) to Sortland (and Nordland county).
Map - Sortland
Map
Country - Norway
Flag of Norway |
Norway has a total area of 385,207 km2 and had a population of 5,425,270 in January 2022. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of 1,619 km. It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the sea coasts; the interior, while colder, is also significantly milder than areas elsewhere in the world on such northerly latitudes. Even during polar night in the north, temperatures above freezing are commonplace on the coastline. The maritime influence brings high rainfall and snowfall to some areas of the country.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
NOK | Norwegian krone | kr | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
FI | Finnish language |
SE | Northern Sami |
NO | Norwegian language |
NN | Nynorsk |