Harstad (town)

Harstad (Northern Sami: Hárstták) is a town in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Harstad. The 11.15-square-kilometre (2,760-acre) town has a population (2017) of 20,953 which gives the town a population density of 1,879 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,870/sq mi).[1] It is the second-largest town in the former Troms county, after the city of Tromsø, and it is the largest town in Central Hålogaland.[3]

Harstad

Hárstták
Town
View of the town
Harstad
Location in Troms
Coordinates: 68.8011°N 16.5441°E / 68.8011; 16.5441
CountryNorway
RegionNorthern Norway
CountyTroms og Finnmark
DistrictCentral Hålogaland
MunicipalityHarstad Municipality
Area
 • Total11.15 km2 (4.31 sq mi)
Elevation3 m (10 ft)
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total20,953
 • Density1,879/km2 (4,870/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code
9405 Harstad
Former Municipality:Harstad ladested
Municipality IDNO-1901
Created fromTrondenes in 1904
Merged intoHarstad in 1964

The town is located on the northeastern part of the large island of Hinnøya, along the Vågsfjorden. The town is made up of several areas including Gangsås, Grønnebakkan, Kanebogen, Medkila, Sama, Seljestad, and Stangnes. There are two churches of the Church of Norway in the town: Harstad Church and Kanebogen Church. The historic Trondenes Church lies just north of the town.

History

On 1 January 1904, the village of Harstad was granted town privileges as a ladested. On the same date, the new town was separated from the municipality of Trondenes to become a municipality of its own. Initially, the town of Harstad had 1,246 residents. The town of Harstad existed as its own municipality between 1 January 1904 until 31 December 1963.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the town of Harstad (population: 3,808) was merged with Trondenes municipality (population: 6,567) to the north and Sandtorg municipality (population: 7,512) to the south, forming a new, much larger Harstad Municipality.[4]

  • Panorama
  • View of the town at night
  • Harbour area
  • View from the fjord
  • View from Gangsåstoppen
  • View of one of the main roads of Harstad
  • Harstad in winter
  • Harstad Church

References
  1. Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2017). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality".
  2. "Harstad, Harstad (Troms)". yr.no. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  3. Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (2018-02-21). "Harstad". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
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