Alstahaug

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Alstahaug kommune

— Municipality —

Coat of arms

Nordland within
Norway

Alstahaug within Nordland

Coordinates: 65°57′24″N 12°34′22″E / 65.95667, 12.57278

Country

Municipality ID

Administrative centre

Sandnessjøen

Government

- Mayor (2007)

Stig Sørra (H)

Area (Nr. 336 in Norway)

- Total

187 km² (72.2 sq mi)

- Land

186 km² (71.8 sq mi)

Population (2004)

- Total

7,378

- Density

40/km² (103.6/sq mi)

- Change (10 years)

-2.4 %

- Rank in Norway

134

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Official language form

Neutral

Data from Statistics Norway

Website: www.alstahaug.kommune.no

Alstahaug is a municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway.

The Seven Sisters

Alstahaug was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Three other municipalities were later separated from it: Herøy (1862), Tjøtta (with Vevelstad) (1862) and Sandnessjøen (with Leirfjord) (1899). Tjøtta (without Vevelstad) and Sandnessjøen (without Leirfjord) were, however, again merged with Alstahaug January 1, 1965. The area of Nordvik was transferred from Alstahaug to Herøy 1864. The mainland area of Alstahaug was transferred to Vefsn 1995.

The old trading centre at Tjøtta.

The centre of Alstahaug is the town Sandnessjøen situated on the island of Alsten. The characteristic mountain range of the Seven Sisters is to be found on the island. Local legend has made this chain of peaks into seven sisters, two adjacent peaks representing twin sisters.

The island is connected to the mainland via the impressive Helgeland Bridge along route Rv17.

1 The name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 History
4 Birdlife
5 External links

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Alstahaug (Norse Alastarhaugr), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the island Alöst (now Alsten), the last element is haugr m 'hill; mound'.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1986). The blue line represents the Seven Sisters, and its reflection in the sea.

[edit] History

The old parsonage at Alstahaug is protected

The medieval Alstahaug Church

At Alstahaug, at the opposite end of the island, one finds the medieval church of Alstahaug, where the poet and minister Petter Dass worked around 1700. Tjøtta, another island, is the place where the famous viking Hårek resided in the 11th century.

[edit] Birdlife

Lying just south of the arctic circle in an area that is known as Outer Helgeland, Alstahaug offers the visiting bird watcher a chance to do some birding in spectacular scenery, be it coastal or inland where the mountain chain The Seven Sisters marks the boundary between the habitats. One of the better areas to birdwatch is Tjøtta. Here you will find the small nature reserve Ostjønna.