Brønnøy

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Brønnøy kommune
Municipality
View of Brønnøysund
View of Brønnøysund
Coat of arms of Brønnøy kommune
Coat of arms		 Official logo of Brønnøy kommune
Nordland within
Norway
File:NO 1813 Brønnøy.svg
Brønnøy within Nordland
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Norway
County Nordland
District Helgeland
Administrative centre Brønnøysund
Government
 • Mayor (2013) Johnny Hanssen (Ap)
Area
 • Total 1,046.59 km2 (404.09 sq mi)
 • Land 1,000.59 km2 (386.33 sq mi)
 • Water 46.00 km2 (17.76 sq mi)
Area rank 99 in Norway
Population (2011)
 • Total 7,719
 • Rank 130 in Norway
 • Density 7.7/km2 (20/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 3.3 %
Demonym(s) Brønnøyværing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1813
Official language form Neutral
Website www.bronnoy.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Brønnøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative and commercial centre is the town of Brønnøysund. A secondary centre is the village of Hommelstø. Other villages include Tosbotn, Lande, Trælnes, and Indreskomo.

Torghatten seen from the south
Bjørnholmene
View from inside the hole of Torghatten; the Strandflaten coastal lowland

The Brønnøysund Register Centre is an important employer in Brønnøy. Also, one of the largest limestone mines in Northern Europe is located in the municipality. Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy is located near the town of Brønnøysund.

General information

The municipality of Brønnøy was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 October 1875 the eastern district (population: 1,162) was separated to become the new municipality of Velfjord. This left Brønnøy with 4,156 residents.

Then on 1 January 1901, the southwestern district (population: 2,731) was separated to become the new municipality of Vik (which later changed its name to Sømna). Brønnøy was then left with 3,440 inhabitants. On 1 January 1923 the large village of Brønnøysund (population: 948) was separated from Brønnøy to become a town (ladested).

On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place. The municipalities of Sømna, Velfjord, Brønnøy, the town of Brønnøysund, and the Lande area of Bindal were all merged to form a new, larger municipality of Brønnøy. Just thirteen years later on 1 January 1977, the former municipality of Sømna was separated from Brønnøy once again to become its own municipality.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the small island Brønnøya (Old Norse: Brunnøy), since the first church was built there. The first element is brunnr which means "well" and the last element is øy which means "island". Islands with freshwater wells were important for seafarers.[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 20 May 1988. The arms have a yellow background with a black direction-sign used in the harbor to guide the ships. It symbolizes the importance of the harbor for the municipality.[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Brønnøy. It is part of the Sør-Helgeland deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Brønnøy
Parish
(Sokn)		 Church Name Location
of the Church		 Year Built
Brønnøy Brønnøy Church Brønnøysund 1870
Skogmo Chapel Indreskomo 1979
Trælnes Chapel Trælnes 1980
Velfjord og Tosen Nøstvik Church Velfjord 1674
Tosen Chapel Lande 1734

Geography

Torget island. The larger, round island northwest of Torget is the main island of the Vega archipelago.

The municipality has great scenic variety with numerous islets, lakes (such as Eidevatnet, Sausvatnet, and Fjellvatnet), mountains, and some fertile agricultural areas. Torget island is connected to the mainland via the Brønnøysund Bridge.

Brønnøy borders the municipalities of Vega and Vevelstad to the north, Vefsn and Grane to the east, and Bindal and Sømna to the south. The large fjord Velfjorden runs into the heart of the municipality.

Nature

In the southwest is the island of Torget, with the mountain Torghatten, is famous for a cavity that goes straight through the structure. Lomsdal–Visten National Park is located in the northeastern part of Brønnøy.

The world's most northerly naturally occurring small-leaved lime (linden) forests grows in Brønnøy, and there are patches of boreal rainforests in Grønlidalen nature reserve[5] and Storhaugen nature reserve.[6] Strompdalen nature reserve[7] and Horsvær nature reserve, a nesting place for a rich variety of seabirds, are also located in the municipality.

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://nordland.miljostatus.no/Storhaugen Nature Reserve
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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