Hadsel
Hadsel (Northern Sami: Válafierda) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stokmarknes. Other villages in Hadsel include Fiskebøl, Gjerstad, Grønning, Grytting, Hanøyvika, Hennes, Kaljord, Melbu, Sanden, and Sandnes.
Hadsel Municipality
Hadsel kommune | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
View of Stokmarknes during the winter | |
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Flag | |
Nordland within Norway | |
Hadsel within Nordland | |
| Coordinates: 68°32′06″N 14°49′30″E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Nordland |
| District | Vesterålen |
| Established | 1 Jan 1838 |
| • Created as | Formannskapsdistrikt |
| Administrative centre | Stokmarknes |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2023) | Kjell-Børge Freiberg (H) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 566.62 km2 (218.77 sq mi) |
| • Land | 550.73 km2 (212.64 sq mi) |
| • Water | 15.88 km2 (6.13 sq mi) 2.8% |
| • Rank | #192 in Norway |
| Population (2023) | |
| • Total | 8,184 |
| • Rank | #130 in Norway |
| • Density | 14.9/km2 (39/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) | +1.7% |
| Demonym | Hadselværing |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Bokmål |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1866 |
| Website | Official website |
The municipality is the southernmost municipality in the Vesterålen region. It is spread over several main islands: Hadseløya, Børøya, Hinnøya, Langøya, and Austvågøya. About 70% of the population live on Hadseløya island. Hadseløya island is connected to Langøya by the Hadsel Bridge and Børøy Bridge. Also, the Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen, is located nearby. It is the busiest small aircraft airport in Norway, serving 100,000 passengers annually (1997).
The 567-square-kilometre (219 sq mi) municipality is the 192nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hadsel is the 130th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,184. The municipality's population density is 14.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (39/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.7% over the previous 10-year period.
The municipality is surrounded by several other municipalities: Sortland lies to the north, Bø to the west, Vågan to the south, and Lødingen to the east.
Part of the municipality is called Innlandet [the inland], consisting of the villages Kaljord, Hennes, Kvitnes, Kvantoelv and Fiskfjord.
Economy: In Spring 2022, a company started mining of cryptocurrency at the company's facility in Stokmarknes; later that year the municipality decideded to cancel the business permit, and informed the company; as of Q1 2023, the business can continue its operation; an estimate has been made about how much electrical power the facility uses: around 40% of the power consumed (in the municipality), from the electric grid.