Vesterålen

Vesterålen is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of the Lofoten district and archipelago and west of the city of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county.

The Old Norse forms of the name were Vestráll and Vestrálar (plural). The first element is vestr which means "west" and the last element is áll which means "(deep and narrow) sound" or "strait". The name describes the seaway west of the island of Hinnøya. The old name of the seaway east of Hinnøya (now called Tjeldsundet) might have been Austráll (meaning "the eastern sound/strait").

Vesterålen consists of the municipalities of Andøy, Bø, Hadsel, Sortland, and Øksnes. According to some definitions, Lødingen is also included. Vesterålen is made up of several islands: Langøya, Andøya, Hadseløya, the western part of Hinnøya, the northern part of Austvågøya and several smaller islands.

The landscape is mountainous, but the mountains have a more rounded shape compared to the mountains in Lofoten. The towns and villages are situated on the coastal brim (Strandflaten) between the mountains and the fjords. There are also several lakes, such as Alsvågvatnet. Møysalen National Park is partly located in Vesterålen (website). The climate in Vesterålen is maritime, with mild winters considering this archipelago is well north of the arctic circle. In Stokmarknes (Hadsel), January average is −1.8 °C (28.8 °F), July 24-hr average is 12.3 °C (54.1 °F), year average is 4.3 °C (39.7 °F) and precipitation is 1,220 millimetres (48 in) with autumn as the wettest season.

...
Wikipedia