Hinnøya

---

title: "Hinnøya" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["northern-norway", "islands-of-troms", "islands-of-nordland", "ofoten", "lofoten", "vesterålen", "andøy-municipality", "hadsel-municipality", "harstad-municipality", "kvæfjord-municipality", "lødingen-municipality", "sortland-municipality", "tjeldsund-municipality", "vågan-municipality"] description: "Large island of Troms and Nordland, Norway" topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinnøya" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Large island of Troms and Nordland, Norway ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox islands"]

Field	Value
name	Hinnøya
native_name
image_name	Autumn landscape near Gullesfjordbotn, Hinnøya, 2010 September.jpg
image_caption	View of Gullesfjordbotn, at the head of Gullesfjorden, partly a nature reserve
location	Northern Norway
coordinates
area_km2	2204.7
rank	4th in Norway
(1st outside of Svalbard)
length_km	80
width_km	55
elevation_m	1262
highest_mount	Møysalen
country	Norway
country_admin_divisions_title	Counties
country_admin_divisions	Troms and Nordland
country_admin_divisions_title_1	Municipalities
country_admin_divisions_1
country_largest_city	Harstad
country_largest_city_population	23,242
country1	Nordland county
country1_area_km2	1275
country2	Troms county
country2_area_km2	930
population	32,688
population_as_of	2017
density_km2	14.8
::

|name = Hinnøya |native_name = |native_name_link = |sobriquet = |image_name = Autumn landscape near Gullesfjordbotn, Hinnøya, 2010 September.jpg |image_size = |image_caption = View of Gullesfjordbotn, at the head of Gullesfjorden, partly a nature reserve |location = Northern Norway |coordinates = |archipelago = |area_km2 = 2204.7 |rank = 4th in Norway (1st outside of Svalbard) |length_km = 80 |width_km = 55 |coastline_km = |elevation_m = 1262 |highest_mount = Møysalen |country = Norway |country_admin_divisions_title = Counties |country_admin_divisions = Troms and Nordland |country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Municipalities |country_admin_divisions_1 = |country_largest_city = Harstad |country_largest_city_population = 23,242 |country1 = Nordland county |country1_area_km2 = 1275 |country2 = Troms county |country2_area_km2 = 930 |population = 32,688 |population_as_of = 2017 |density_km2 = 14.8 |density_footnotes =

Hinnøya (Norwegian; ) is the fourth-largest island in Norway, and the largest outside the Svalbard archipelago. The 2204.7 km2 lies just off the western coast of Northern Norway. The island sits on the border of Nordland and Troms counties. The western part of the island is in the district of Vesterålen, the southwestern part is in the Lofoten district, the southeastern part is in the Ofoten district, and the northeastern part is in Troms. , Hinnøya had a population of 32,688. The only town on the island is the town of Harstad. Some of the larger villages include Borkenes, Lødingen, Sigerfjord, and Sørvik. The island is split between several municipalities: Harstad, Tjeldsund and Kvæfjord in Troms county, as well as Andøy, Hadsel, Lødingen, Sortland, and Vågan in Nordland county.

Etymology

The Old Norse form of the name was just Hinn (the suffix -øya meaning "the island" was added later). The large island is almost divided in two parts by the Gullesfjorden and Øksfjorden, and the old name is probably derived from an old verb with the meaning "cleave", "split", or "cut".

Transportation

Hinnøya is connected to the mainland by the Tjeldsund Bridge across the Tjeldsundet strait. To the west, it is connected to the island of Langøya by the Sortland Bridge, and to the northwest to the island of Andøya by the Andøy Bridge. It is connected to the Lofoten islands by the Lofoten mainland connection which opened on 1 December 2007. That connection is part of the European Route E10 highway. The highway runs near Møysalen National Park. There is also a ferry connection in the southeast between the village of Lødingen and the village of Bognes on the mainland, crossing the Vestfjorden.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Raudmoldheia_og_Dale_i_Kvæfjord.JPG" caption="Dale, Kvæfjord, northern Hinnøya"] ::

Hinnøya is dissected by several fjords, and two very long ones, Gullesfjorden in the northeast and Øksfjorden in the southwest, almost sever the island in half. There is a 5 km isthmus between innermost parts of the two fjords. Tjeldsundet sound divides Hinnøya from the mainland and from Tjeldøya; the narrow Raftsundet strait divides Hinnøya from Austvågøya and between Hinnøya and Andøya goes Risøyrenna strait. The island contains a mostly rugged and mountainous terrain, especially the southern part. There are also valleys and lakes, the largest lake is Storvatnet at 6,67 km2. The treeline lies close to 400 m above sea level, but varies from 250 m to nearly 500 m above sea level.

The best agricultural area is in the northeast, in Harstad and Kvæfjord Municipalities. The southern part is the location of Møysalen National Park, which includes the highest mountain on the island, the 1262 m tall Møysalen. In the northwestern part of the island, near the village of Forfjord, there is a nature reserve containing a valley with forests and bogs, including the oldest pine trees in Norway, more than 700 years old.

::data[format=table] | County | Area km2 (sqmi) | Population (2016) | |---|---|---| | Nordland | 1275 km2 | 5,938 | | Troms | 930 km2 | 26,750 | | Total | 2205 km2 | 32,688 | ::

Climate

The climate of the southern coast of the island is warmer and wetter in winter than the northern coast. Harstad, situated on the northern part of Hinnøya, has all-time high 31.7 C recorded July 2014, and record low -16.1 C recorded in February 2010. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/View_to_coast_of_Tjeldsundet,_Hinnøya,_Nordland,_Norway,2015_April(02).jpg" caption="Eastern Hinnøya facing Tjeldsundet in April. The highest mountain is ''Strandtinden'' (1,076 m) on southeastern Hinnøya"] ::

|metric first= yes |single line = yes |location = Harstad 1991-2020 |Jan mean C=-2 |Feb mean C=-2.2 |Mar mean C=-0.8 |Apr mean C=2.4 |May mean C=6.6 |Jun mean C=10.1 |Jul mean C=13.3 |Aug mean C=12.5 |Sep mean C=8.8 |Oct mean C=4.3 |Nov mean C=1.1 |Dec mean C=-0.8 |year mean C= |precipitation colour=green |Jan precipitation mm=106 |Feb precipitation mm=79 |Mar precipitation mm=101 |Apr precipitation mm=57 |May precipitation mm=38 |Jun precipitation mm=41 |Jul precipitation mm=54 |Aug precipitation mm=54 |Sep precipitation mm=75 |Oct precipitation mm=90 |Nov precipitation mm=73 |Dec precipitation mm=86 |year precipitation mm= |source 1= Norwegian Meteorological Institute

References

References

1. "Informasjon om stadnamn". [[Norwegian Mapping Authority.
2. "Norgeskart". Statkart.
3. (2016-04-24). "Hinnøya". [[Kunnskapsforlaget]].
4. "Møysalen National Park".
5. "Andøy". VisitVesterålen.
6. "Weather data".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::