Andenes

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'For andenes, the cultivation terraces of the Incas, see Anden

Andenes harbour

Andenes seen from Mount Røyken

Andenes is a small town in the municipality/commune of Andøy in the county of Nordland, Norway, and had 5,549 inhabitants as of January 1, 2002. It is the municipal centre/seat and has a population around 2,700 as of January 2006. The name derives from the Norwegian words "And" and "nes", meaning duck and headland, and may be referring to how the northern part of the island looks like the head of a duck when viewed from the northwestern fishing grounds.

Andenes is the northernmost settlement of the island Andøya and Nordland county. To the east is the island Senja, and to the west the endless horizon of the North Atlantic. Andøy municipality calls itself Nordlyskommunen (The commune of the Aurora Borealis).

1 History
2 Air Station
3 Geography
4 Media, culture and entertainment
5 Well-known people
6 External links

[edit] History

Andenes was already an important fishing village during the Iron Age. By the early 1900s it had become one of the largest fishing ports in Norway.

Andenes was a separate municipality from 1924 to 1964, when Andenes, Dverberg and Bjørnskinn were joined to form Andøy municipality. Andenes seats the mayor of Andøy and acts as the municipal centre. In the early 1980s the population was 3,770, which made it the largest town in Vesterålen. The downsizing of the Air Station and general population centralization in Norway has lead to a dramatic decline in inhabitants over the last 20 years.

[edit] Air Station

The construction of Andøya Air Station was commissioned in 1952 and funded in large part by NATO. It was to be situated between Haugnes and Andenes. A DC-3_Dakota of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) undertook the first landing on September 17, 1954. The air station however was not fully operative until September 15, 1957.

In 1961 the 333 Squadron was moved from Sola Air Station to Andøya with their Grumman HU-16 Albatross. These were in 1969 replaced by the Lockheed P-3 Orion. In 1989 the Lockheed P-3C Orion replaced the aging P-3Bs. However, two of the newest P-3Bs were converted to P-3Ns and fly missions for the Norwegian Coast Guard. Besides fisheries, Andøya Air Station has been the largest workplace in Andøy since the 1970s.

[edit] Geography

The city lies 300 km north of the Arctic Circle and the midnight sun is visible from May 19 to July 25. The sun is below the horizon from November 25 to January 28.