Andørja is a former municipality

Former municipalities of Norway

This is a list of former municipalities of Norway, i.e. municipalities that no longer exist.When the local council system was introduced in Norway in 1837-38, the country had 392 municipalities. In 1958 the number had grown to a total of 744 rural municipalities, 64 city municipalities as well as a...

 in Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is located in the northeastern part of the present-day municipality of Ibestad

Ibestad

Ibestad is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hamnvik. Some of the larger villages in Ibestad include Sørvika, Å, and Laupstad....

. The largest population area on Andørja island is the Å

Å, Ibestad

Å is a village in the municipality of Ibestad in Troms county, Norway. It is located about east of the city of Harstad on the southwest side of the island of Andørja, along the Bygda strait which goes between the Vågsfjord and the Astafjord...

 - Ånstad - Laupstad area with 205 residents (2001).

Andørja is also the name of the island on which the former municipality was located and named after. The island is located entirely within the present-day municipality of Ibestad

Ibestad

Ibestad is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hamnvik. Some of the larger villages in Ibestad include Sørvika, Å, and Laupstad....

. Its area is 135 km² (52.1 sq mi). The highest point on the island is Langlitinden

Langlitinden

Langlitinden is the highest mountain on the island of Andørja and is also the highest mountain on any Norwegian island . It is located on the northeastern part of the island in the municipality of Ibestad in Troms county, Norway, just to the south of the Mjøsund Bridge. The mountain is tall....

 at an elevation of 1276 m (4,186.4 ft). In mainland Norway, this is the highest mountain situated on an island. The 8 km (5 mi) long Straumsbotn fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 cuts into the middle of the island from the north side.

Name

The name of the municipality is the same as the name for the island (Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

: Andyrja). The meaning of the name is not certain, but one theory is that the first element and comes from the word for "against" and the second element yrja means "gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

" or "rocks", possibly referring to the waves from the sea hitting against the rocky shores.

History

The municipality of Andørja was established on 1 July 1926 when it was separated from the municipality of Ibestad

Ibestad

Ibestad is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hamnvik. Some of the larger villages in Ibestad include Sørvika, Å, and Laupstad....

. Andørja had an initial population of 1,420. Then on 1 January 1964, Andørja was merged together with Ibestad and the part of neighboring Skånland

Skånland

Skånland is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Evenskjer.- General information :...

 municipality that was located on the island of Rolla. Prior to the merger, Andørja had a population of 1,330.

Transportation

The Norwegian national road

Norwegian national road

Norwegian national road , are roads thus categorized by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration which also maintains them...

 Rv. 848 connects Andørja on the southside to Rolla island via the Ibestad undersea tunnel

Undersea tunnel

An undersea tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under a body of water. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is impossible, or to provide competition for existing bridges or ferry links...

 and to the mainland (Salangen

Salangen

Salangen is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. The municipality is situated along the Sagfjord, and also includes some inland valleys...

municipality) by a bridge on the northside of the island.