Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.
Etymology
in Lofoten during fishing season (April, 2001).]]
Lofoten (
Norse Lófót f) was originally the old name of the
island Vestvågøya. The first element is
ló '
lynx', the last element is derived from Norse
fótr m '
foot'. The shape of the island must have been compared with a
foot of a
lynx. (The old name of the neighbouring island
Flakstadøya was
Vargfót 'the foot of a
wolf', from
vargr m 'wolf'. See also
Ofoten.)
History
has been exported from Lofoten for at least 1,000 years.]]
Vågan (
Norse Vágar) is the first known
town formation in
northern Norway. It existed in the early
Viking Age, maybe earlier, and was located on the southern coast on eastern Lofoten, near today's village
Kabelvåg in
Vågan municipality. However, the
Lofotr Viking Museum with the reconstructed 83 m long
longhouse (the largest known) is located near Borg on
Vestvågøy, which have many
archeological finds from the
Iron Age and Viking Age.
The islands have for more than 1,000 years been the centre of great cod fisheries, especially in winter, when the cod migrates south from the Barents Sea and gathers in Lofoten to spawn. Bergen in southwestern Norway was for a long time the hub for further export south to large parts of Europe, particularly so when trade was controlled by the Hanseatic League. In the lowland areas, particularly Vestvågøy, agriculture plays a significant role, as it has done since the Bronze Age.
Lofotr was originally the name of the island of Vestvågøy only. Later it became the name of the chain of islands. The chain of islands with its pointed peaks looks like a lynx foot from the mainland. In Norwegian, it is always a singular. Another name one might come across, is "Lofotveggen" or the Lofoten wall. The archipelago looks like a closed wall when seen from elevated points around Bodø or when arriving from the sea, some 100 km. long, and 800-1,000 m. high.
During 1941, the islands were raided by British Combined Operations commandos during Operation Claymore in March and a subsequent diversionary attack to support the Vaagso raid in December.
Geography
, Lofoten, seen from top of
Reinebringen (June, 2003).]]
Lofoten is located at the
68th and
69th parallels north of the
Arctic Circle in
North Norway. It is well known for its natural beauty within Norway. Lofoten encompasses the municipalities of
Vågan,
Vestvågøy,
Flakstad,
Moskenes,
Værøy and
Røst. The principal islands, running from north to south, are
Southern tip of Hinnøya.
Southern 60 % (approx.) of
Austvågøy (526.7 km² in total ),
Gimsøy (46.4 km² ),
Vestvågøy (411.1 km² ),
Flakstadøya (109.8 km² ),
Moskenesøya (185.9 km² ),
whilst further to the south are the small and isolated islands of
Værøy () and
Røst (). The total land area amounts to 1,227 km², and the population totals 24,500.
Many will argue that Hinnøya, the northern part of Austvågøy and several hundred smaller islands, skerries and rocks to the east of Austvågøy are also part of the Lofoten complex. Historically the territorial definition of Lofoten has changed significantly.
Between the mainland and the Lofoten archipelago lies the vast, open
Vestfjord, and to the north is
Vesterålen. The principal towns in Lofoten are
Leknes in
Vestvågøy and
Svolvær in
Vågan.
The Lofoten Islands are characterised by their mountains and peaks, sheltered inlets, stretches of seashore and large virgin areas. The highest mountain in Lofoten is
Higravstinden (1,161 m / 3,800 ft) in Austvågøy; the
Møysalen National Park just northeast of Lofoten has mountains reaching 1,262 m. The famous
Moskstraumen (Malstrøm) system of
tidal eddies is located in western Lofoten, and is indeed the root of the term
maelstrom.
Wildlife
The sea is rich with life, and the world's largest deep water coral reef is located west of Røst. Lofoten has a very high density of
sea eagles and
cormorants, and millions of other sea birds, among them the colourful
puffin.
Otters are common, and there are
moose on the largest islands. There are some woodlands with
Downy birch and
Rowan. There are no native
conifer forests in Lofoten, but some small areas with private
spruce plantations.
Sorbus hybrida ("Rowan whitebeam") and
Malus sylvestris occur in Lofoten, but not further north.
Climate
Winter temperatures in Lofoten are very mild considering their location north of the Arctic Circle, this is the largest positive temperature anomaly in the world relative to
latitude. This is due to the
Gulf Stream and its extensions: the
North Atlantic Current and the
Norwegian Current.
Røst and
Værøy are
the most northerly locations in the world where average temperatures are above freezing all year. .]]
Winters are slightly colder in the northeastern part of Lofoten,
Svolvær has a January average of -1.5°C (30°F), but
summers are a bit warmer, with both July and August 24-hr averages of 13°C (56°F). May and June are the driest months, while October has three times as much precipitation . Typical daytime temperature in May is 9°C (48°F), in July 15°C (60°F) and in September 11°C (52°F). The warmest recording in
Svolvær is 30.4°C (87°F). Strong winds can occur in late autumn and winter, but are rare from late March to mid-October.
Snow and
sleet are not uncommon in winter, the mountains can have substantial amounts of snow, and in some winters,
avalanches might come down from steep mountain slopes. Two of the
top ten deadliest rainstorms ever recorded passed through Lofoten.
In Svolvær, the sun (Midnight sun) is above the horizon from May 25 to July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 4 to January 7. In Leknes, the sun is above the horizon from May 26 to July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 9 to January 4.
The temperature in the sea has been recorded since 1935. At 1 m depth in the sea near Skrova, water temperatures varies from a low of 3°C in March to 14°C in August. Some years peaking above 17°C. November is around 7-8°C. At a depth of 200 m the temperature is near 8°C all year .
Mountaineering and rock climbing
Lofoten offers many rock climbing and mountaineering opportunities. It has 24 hours of daylight in the summer and has Alpine-style ridges, summits and glaciers, but at a height of less than 1,200 metres. The main centre for rock climbing is Henningsvær on Austvågøya.
The main areas for mountaineering and climbing are on Austvågøya and Moskenesøya. Moskenesøya is the most complete area for climbing. For more information, see the books by Dyer and Webster (see references).
Cycling
There is a well marked
cycling route that goes from
Å in the south and continues past
Fiskebøl in the north. The route is part public
road, part cycle-path with the option to bypass all of the
tunnels by either
cycle-path (tunnels through mountains) or
boat.
Traffic is generally light, although in July there may be a lot of
campervans. Some of the more remote sections are on
gravel roads. There is a dedicated cycling ferry which sails between
Ballstad and
Nusfjord, allowing cyclists to avoid the long, steep
Nappstraum tunnel. The route hugs the
coastline for most of its length where it is generally flat. As it turns inland through the mountain passes there are a couple of 3-400 meter
climbs.
The Lofoten Insomnia Cycling Race takes place every year around midsummer, possible in the midnight sun, but surely in 24-hr daylight, along the whole Lofoten archipelago.
Communications
. Late August near
Eggum,
Vestvågøy]]
Lofoten is served by three small airports:
Leknes Airport (84 215 passengers in 2006)
Svolvær Airport, Helle (63 787 passengers in 2006)
Røst Airport (7 755 passengers in 2006), which mainly offers flights to Bodø.
heliport at Værøy (7 923 passengers in 2006)
Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen is located in Vesterålen.
Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes has direct flights to Oslo and Trondheim.
Bodø is often used as a hub for travel to Lofoten. In addition to air travel there is a ferry connecting Bodø to Moskenes. There is also a ferry connecting Svolvær to Skutvik in Hamarøy, with road connection east to E6. Hurtigruten calls at Stamsund and Svolvær.
The European road E10 connects the larger islands of Lofoten with bridges and undersea tunnels. The E10 road also connects Lofoten to the mainland of Norway through the Lofast road connection, which was officially opened on December 1, 2007. There are several daily bus services between the islands of Lofoten and between Lofoten and the mainland along E10.
In popular culture
In the film
Maelstrom, Lofoten is where the ashes of Annstein Karson are distributed.
See also
in Lofoten]]
Atlantic cod
Stockfish
Shipwreck Radio, a collection of music recorded and broadcast in Lofoten by Nurse With Wound during June and July 2004
"A Descent into the Maelström", story by Edgar Allan Poe
References
Other sources
A. Dyer et al. Walks and Scrambles in Norway ISBN 1-904466-25-7.
Ed Webster Climbing in the Magic Islands ISBN 8-299319-90-0.
Newscientist: Stockfish exported to Europe, Britain 1,100 years ago
External links
and
Higravstindan mountains,
Vågan municipality]]
The official website for Lofoten
Lofoten Islands group on Flickr
Gallery of Lofoten photos
The first Lofoten website (1996) with special emphasis on the islands of Moskenes and Flakstad.
Unesco World Heritage - Lofoten archipelago on the tentative list
Lofoten Tourist Pages
Great pictures from Michael Voeller
Photo gallery on M. Klüber Photography
Many pictures from Lofoten
Photo album with maps from Lofoten
Climbing in Lofoten
Lofoten by Rail forum
Lofoten short trip hints & photos for Moskenes and Flakstad island
Category:Districts of Nordland
Category:Archipelagoes of the Norwegian Sea
Category:Archipelagoes of Norway
