Vågan

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Vågan (Northern Sami: Vuogát) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Svolvær. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen, Gimsøy, Gravermarka, Henningsvær, Hopen, Kabelvåg, Kleppstad, Laupstad, Liland, Skrova, Straumnes, and Sydalen.^[2]

General information

Vågan was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1856, the northwestern part of Vågan (population: 987) was separated to form the new municipality of Gimsøy. On 1 July 1918, the town of Svolvær (population: 2,429) was separated to form its own municipality. This left Vågan with 3,399 residents. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Gimsøy, Svolvær, and Vågan were merged to form the new, larger municipality of Vågan.^[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vågan farm (Old Norse: Vágar), since the first church (Vågan Church) was built there. The name is the plural form of vág which means "bay". The island of Austvågøya (Old Norse: Vágøy) was named after this important site (which later led the neighboring island to be named Vestvågøya). The name was historically spelled Vaagan.^[4]

Coat of arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 30 March 1973. The arms show a white colored cod on a blue background. This was chosen because fishing is the main source of income for the municipality. The cod was also part of the older arms of the town/municipality of Svolvær.^[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Vågan. It is part of the Lofoten deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Vågan**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Gimsøy og Strauman	Gimsøy Church	Gimsøy	1876
Gimsøy og Strauman	Strauman Church	Sydalen	1984
Henningsvær	Henningsvær Church	Henningsvær	1974
Strandlandet	Strandlandet Church	Straumnes	1938
Svolvær	Digermulen Church	Digermulen	1951
	Sildpollnes Church	Sildpollneset	1891
	Svolvær Church	Svolvær	1934
Vågan	Vågan Church	Kabelvåg	1898

Geography

The main population centres are the town of Svolvær and the villages of Kabelvåg and Henningsvær, located on the largest island, Austvågøya (although Svolvær and Henningsvær are partly located on smaller islands adjacent to the main island). All three have a picturesque situation under the rugged Lofoten mountains, facing the rough body of water called Vestfjorden. Vågan municipality includes over half of Austvågøya island, all of the islands of Gimsøya, Skrova, Store Molla, Lille Molla, numerous other tiny islets, plus the southwestern tip of the island of Hinnøya. The Moholmen Lighthouse and Skrova Lighthouse are both located in the Vestfjorden. Two notable mountains in the municipality are Higravstinden and Svolværgeita.

Climate

Climate data for Svolvær, Vågan
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Daily mean °C (°F)	−1.5 (29.3)	−1.8 (28.8)	−0.3 (31.5)	2.2 (36)	6.5 (43.7)	10.1 (50.2)	13.0 (55.4)	13.0 (55.4)	9.0 (48.2)	5.2 (41.4)	1.8 (35.2)	−0.5 (31.1)	4.7 (40.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	159 (6.26)	134 (5.28)	112 (4.41)	88 (3.46)	63 (2.48)	67 (2.64)	87 (3.43)	94 (3.7)	146 (5.75)	210 (8.27)	160 (6.3)	180 (7.09)	1,500 (59.06)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute^[6]

History and economy

Landscape in northern Vågan.

Kabelvåg is the oldest fishing village in Lofoten, where King Øystein built the first fishing shacks in the early 12th century. The Lofoten Cathedral, built in 1898, seats 1,200 people, and used to be filled to the last seat during the Lofoten fishing in the winter.

Henningsvær has a picturesque situation on several islands, and is today more important for fishing. Svolvær is the municipal centre, and has an impressive number of artists' studios and galleries. In addition to the cod fisheries, salmon fish farming and tourism are economically important in Vågan.

Transportation

The islands that make up Vågan are connected by several different bridges. The European route E10 highway connects the neighboring municipality of Vestvågøy to Vågan (Gimsøya island) by the Sundklakkstraumen Bridge. Gimsøya island connects to Austvågøya island by the Gimsøystraumen Bridge. The islands of Henningsvær are connected to Austvågøya by the Henningsvær Bridges. The rest of the small islands are only accessible by boats and ferries. In the town of Svolvær, the Svinøy Bridge connects the main part of town to the island of Svinøya. Svolvær Airport, Helle is located just east of the town of Svolvær.