Brønnøysund

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Brønnøysund in February 2005

Coat of Arms of Brønnøysund

Brønnøysund is a coastal town with approximately 5,000 inhabitants, being the administrative and commercial centre of the municipality Brønnøy in Norway. Township was declared in 2000. Brønnøysund has daily visits by the Hurtigruten (Coastal Express), northbound at night and southbound in the afternoon. It has its own airport, Brønnøysund lufthavn (BNN), and a direct eastbound connection to the E6 highway. It is best known in Norway as the location of the Brønnøysund Register Centre, also known as Brønnøysundregistrene. Kredittinform and Dunn & Bradstreet are the main commercial spin-offs of this register, in which the new e-government portal "ALTINN" is the newest addition.

During the viking era, Torgar, by the foot of the legendary mountain Torghatten, was a nationally powerful chieftain seat and an important commercial center along the coast. The original inhabitants were wiped out in an outright massacre by Duke Skule and his men in the Norwegian civil wars that raged around 1240, in the high medieval era of Norway. The region was repopulated by immigrants from southern Norway, Trondelag and Sweden, which could explain the unique and somewhat odd dialect. In recent years, Brønnøysund has managed to create a certain economic growth. Fjord Seafood originated here, as well as the largest limestone mine in Northern Europe and the highest foodstuff production in Northern Norway are examples of entrepreneurship and well-run economy in this somewhat prosperous region. Additionally, there is a local heliport and an airport, but oddly the authorities had removed the direct flight to the national capital, Oslo, which is causing serious delays to Norwegian flows of documentation, due to one of Europe's least effective postal services.

Modern agriculture, hydroponics, the large TTS transport corporation, wood-processing and tourism are the main driving industries.

[edit] Airport

Brønnøysund Airport is located only about 2 km from the town centre, and is a vital communications link not only for the township, but also for a large region surrounding the town. The airport opened in 1967, providing modern and much needed, time-effective transportation to the region, and making it possible to reach both the capital and medical services within an acceptable timeframe. However, the authorities managed to close down the direct flight to Oslo in 2000, causing serious delays to the general flow of business-critical documents to and from Brønnøysund, and effectively contributing to increased bureaucracy, unwarranted delays and the blunting of economic growth in the region.

The bridge to the adjacent island Torget with the mountain Torghatten.

It is regularly, several times a day, served by Norway's oldest airline, called Wideroe's Flyveselskap ASA. It is also base for some of the offshore helicopter services, making it possible to exploit the vast natural resources offshore.

The site is hosting the production of the NRK series "Himmel Blå", a franchise of the British "20 000 acres of sky", allegedly one of the largest productions in the NRK history.