Leknes
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Leknes is a town and administrative centre of municipality Vestvågøy (10,764 inhabitants - the most populated municipality in Lofoten and Vesterålen) in the county of Nordland in northern Norway. The town is situated in the geographical middle of Lofoten, approximately 68km west of Svolvær and 65km east of Å. The town of Leknes has 2,647 inhabitants[1].
Leknes is the trading and shopping centre of Lofoten, only rivalled by Svolvær. Leknes has an airport, Leknes Airport, for regional aircraft, with 7 daily scheduled flights to Bodø and some daily flights to Svolvær with the airline Widerøe. The town has a small bus terminal which serves as a hub with bus links to the rest of Lofoten. Leknes is a "twin town" with Gravdal, which houses the region's hospital, Lofoten Sykehus.
Leknes is one of the few towns in Lofoten which is not based upon fisheries and which does not have its town centre by the sea. Because of this, and because of its rapid growth in recent years, it does not have the same traditional wooden architecture as most other towns in Lofoten, and may thus not be regarded to be as picturesque as its neighbouring fishing villages. However, the natural surroundings are regarded to be among the most stunning in Norway, with mountains, peaks, cliffs and white sandy beaches. The town's harbour Leknes Havn is one of Norway's most important and visited harbours for cruise ships.
In Leknes, the sun (midnight sun) is above the horizon from May 26 to July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 9 to
January 4.
The old school of the neighborhood Fygle has been made into a museum.
[edit] References
- ^ Statistics Norway (2005). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality. 1 January 2005".
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