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Bjarkøy

Bjarkøy kommune
Bjarkedjo suohkan
Former Municipality
Coat of arms of Bjarkøy kommune
Coat of arms
Location in Troms county
Location in Troms county
Coordinates: 68°59′55″N 16°29′53″E / 68.99861°N 16.49806°E / 68.99861; 16.49806
Country Norway
Region Northern Norway
County Troms
District Central Hålogaland
Municipality ID NO-1915
Adm. Center Nergården
Area
 • Total 73.61 km2 (28.42 sq mi)
 • Land 73.44 km2 (28.36 sq mi)
 • Water 0.17 km2 (0.07 sq mi)
Population (2012)
 • Total 455
 • Rank 425
 • Density 6.2/km2 (16/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Bjarkøyværing
Time zone CET (UTC+01:00)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+02:00)
Created as Formannskapsdistrikt in 1838
Merged into Harstad in 2013

Bjarkøy is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality was merged with the municipality of Harstad on 1 January 2013. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Nergården. The municipality was spread across several smaller islands, the biggest being the northern side of Grytøya. The island of Bjarkøya was home to the municipality's biggest village, Nergården.

The Bjarkøy Fixed Link project is a proposed bridge and undersea road tunnel that will connect the three main islands of the former municipality of Bjarkøy. This project was one of the factors in the municipality merging with Harstad.

The church parish of Sand was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The name was later changed to Bjarkøy. 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. On 1 January 2013, the municipality was merged with the municipality of Harstad to the south, forming a new, larger municipality of Harstad.

The municipality was named after the island of Bjarkøya (Old Norse: Bjarkarey). The first element is the genitive case of bjørk 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 perhaps inspired by the name of the old and well-known town of Birka in Sweden, which has the same meaning).


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