- Bjarkøy
Infobox_Kommune
name=Bjarkøy
idnumber=1915
county=Troms
landscape=Hålogaland
capital=Bjarkøy
governor=Jorunn Berg (Sandsøy og Fenes/Skjellesvik Bygdeliste)
governor_as_of=2003
arearank=402
area=74
arealand=73
areapercent=0.02
population_as_of=2008
populationrank=425
population=509
populationpercent=0.01
populationdensity=7
populationincrease=-20.0
demonym=Bjarkøyværing
language=Neutral
lat_deg=68| lat_min=59| lat_sec=55| lon_deg=16| lon_min=29| lon_sec=53
utm_zone=33W| utm_northing=7654965 |utm_easting=0559922| geo_cat=adm2nd
munwebpage=www.bjarkoy.kommune.noBjarkøy is a municipality in the county of Troms,
Norway .Bjarkøy (until 1887 named "Sand") was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt ). The southernmost part ofSenja (the peninsula "Senjehesten") was transferred from Bjarkøy toTranøy January 1, 1964.The municipality is spread across several smaller islands, the biggest being the northern side of Grytøya (the southern part belongs to
Harstad ). The island of Bjarkøy is the biggest hamlet, also housing the municipal seat.The name
The municipality is named after the island
Bjarkøya (Norse "Bjark(ar)øy"). The first element is (the genitive case of) "björk" f 'birch ', the last element is "øy" f 'island'. (The name of the island, since it is an old trading place, is maybe inspired by the name of the old and well-known town ofBirka in Sweden, which has the same meaningfact|date=November 2007.)Until 1887 the municipality was called "Sand" (after the churchsite).
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1986) - but it has old roots. (See the coat-of-arms of the county
Troms .)History
This is old Viking territory, and was a chieftain seat during the
Viking Age and the Middle Ages. Among the more famous chieftains you findTore Hund , who killed Norway's Patron Saint,Saint Olav in thebattle of Stiklestad in1030 . In1323 the chieftain seat was raided and burned bycarelian warriors.
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