Brønnøy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brønnøy kommune

— Municipality —

Coat of arms

Nordland within
Norway

Brønnøy within Nordland

Coordinates: 65°28′33″N 12°24′1″E / 65.47583, 12.40028

Country

Municipality ID

Administrative centre

Brønnøysund

Government

- Mayor (2005)

Kjell H. Trælnes (Sp)

Area (Nr. 99 in Norway)

- Total

1,042 km² (402.3 sq mi)

- Land

996 km² (384.6 sq mi)

Population (2004)

- Total

7,565

- Density

8/km² (20.7/sq mi)

- Change (10 years)

8.5 %

- Rank in Norway

130

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Official language form

Neutral

Data from Statistics Norway

Website: www.bronnoy.kommune.no

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

Torghatten seen from the south

Brønnøy was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Three other municipalities were later separated from it: Velfjord (1875), Sømna (1901) and the town of Brønnøysund (1923). All these three were again merged with Brønnøy January 1, 1964 - but Sømna was again separated from Brønnøy January 1, 1977.

[edit] Geography and Nature

The municipality has great scenic variety with numerous islets, mountains, and some fertile agricultural areas.

Location of Torget island

View from inside the hole of Torghatten; the Strandflaten coastal lowland creates many islands

In the southwest is the island Torget with the mountain Torghatten, famous for a cavity that goes straight through the structure. The world's most northerly naturally occurring lime forests grows in Brønnøy, and there are patches of boreal rainforests in Grønlidalen nature reserve (Norw txt) and Storhaugen nature reserve. Strompdalen nature reserve ([1]) and Horsvær nature reserve, a nesting place for a rich variety of seabirds, are also located in the municipality.

The administrative and commercial centre is Brønnøysund. A secondary centre is Hommelstø.

Brønnøy borders the municipalities of Vega and Vevelstad to the north, Vefsn and Grane to the east, and Bindal and Sømna to the south.

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the small island Brønnøya (Norse Brunnøy), since the first church was built there. The first element is brunnr m 'well', the last element is øy f 'island'. (Islands with freshwater was important for seafarers.)