Andørja (island)

Andørja
Native name: <span class="nickname" ">Áttir

View of the island (seen from Harstad)

Location in Troms

Geography
Location Troms, Norway
Coordinates 68°48′54″N 17°17′41″E / 68.8149°N 17.2948°E / 68.8149; 17.2948Coordinates: 68°48′54″N 17°17′41″E / 68.8149°N 17.2948°E / 68.8149; 17.2948
Area 135 km2 (52 sq mi)
Length 15 km (9.3 mi)
Width 14.5 km (9.01 mi)
Highest elevation 1,276 m (4,186 ft)
Highest point Langlitinden
Administration
Norway
County Troms
Municipality Ibestad

Andørja is an island in the municipality of Ibestad in Troms county, Norway. The 135-square-kilometre (52 sq mi) island lies about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the town of Harstad. The island is located entirely within the present-day municipality of Ibestad, although the island itself was a separate municipality (Andørja) from 1926 until 1964. The largest population area on Andørja island is the Å - Ånstad - Laupstad area on the west coast with 205 residents (2001).[1] Andørja Church is located in Engenes on the northwestern tip of the island.

Geography

The Vågsfjorden lies to the north and west of the island and the Astafjorden flows along the southeastern coast. The Bygda strait sits between Andørja and the island of Rolla to the west and the Mjøsundet strait sits between Andørja and the Norwegian mainland to the east.

The Mjøsund Bridge connects Andørja to the mainland (across the Mjøsundet strait) and the Ibestad Tunnel is an undersea road tunnel that connects Andørja to Rolla.

The highest point on the 135-square-kilometre (52 sq mi) island is the 1,276-metre (4,186 ft) tall mountain Langlitinden. In mainland Norway, this is the highest mountain situated on an island. The 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) long Straumsbotn fjord cuts into the middle of the island from the north side.

Name

The meaning of the name of the island (Old Norse: Andyrja) is not certain, but one theory is that the first element and comes from the word for "against" and the second element yrja means "gravel" or "rocks", possibly referring to the waves from the sea hitting against the rocky shores.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå (2001). "Folke- og boligtellingen 2001, kommune- og bydelshefter 1917 Ibestad" (PDF) (in Norwegian).
  2. ↑ "Andørja" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 2012-09-06.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.