| Bjarkøy kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Bjarkøy within Troms | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Troms | ||
| District | Hålogaland | ||
| Administrative centre | Bjarkøy | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Eddmar Osvoll (Bjarkøylista) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 73.61 km2 (28.4 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 73.44 km2 (28.4 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 0.17 km2 (0.1 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 402 in Norway | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 482 | ||
| • Rank | 425 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 6.6/km2 (17.1/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -19.9 % | ||
| Demonym | Bjarkøyværing[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1915 | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Website | www.bjarkoy.kommune.no | ||
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Bjarkøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bjarkøy. The municipality is spread across several smaller islands, the biggest being the northern side of Grytøya (the southern part belongs to Harstad). The island of Bjarkøya has the biggest hamlet, also housing the municipal seat.
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The parish of Sand was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The southernmost part of the island of Senja (the Senjehesten peninsula) and the Lemmingsvær island (total population of the two locations: 480) was transferred from Bjarkøy to the municipality of Tranøy on 1 January 1964. The municipal boundaries have not changed since.[2]
The municipality is named after the island of Bjarkøya (Old Norse: Bjarkarey). The first element is the genitive case of björk which means "birch" and the last element is øy which means "island". (The name of the island, since it is an old trading place, is maybe inspired by the name of the old and well-known town of Birka in Sweden, which has the same meaning).[3][4]
Prior to 1887, the municipality was called Sand after the name of the churchsite. It has been called Bjarkøy since then.
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 April 1986. The arms show a golden griffin on a blue background. They are derived from the arms of the Bjarkøy dynasty, one of the most influential families in the Northern part of Norway. The griffin was already used in the seal and arms of the family in the late 13th century.[5]
This is old Viking territory, and was a chieftain seat during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages. Among the more famous chieftains you find Thorir Hund, who killed Norway's Patron Saint, Saint Olav in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. In 1323, the chieftain seat was raided and burned by Karelian warriors.
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