Sortland, Norway

Sortland is a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. In January 2012, the town's population reached 10 thousand. It is part of the region of Vesterålen. Sortland is located on Langøya island and is the largest town and commercial hub of Vesterålen. The town is home to the northern base of the Norwegian Coast Guard.

Sortland is often called the “blue town” because most houses are painted blue. The idea of a “blue town” came to the local artist Bjørn Elvenes in 1998. Elvenes studied in Poland, at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. At that time, Kraków seemed to him a gray and unpromising city. The artist thought it would be great to paint some town for the joy of its residents and tourists. And where else could such an idea be realized, if not at home, in a small town in the north of Norway? Blue is a symbol of the sea and the sky, and Sortland is closely connected with the sea. Therefore, the artist decided to paint the city’s 17 districts in different shades of blue.

The Vesterålen archipelago includes several islands: Langøya, Andøya, Hadseløya, the western part of Hinnøya island, the northern part of Østvågøya island, and several smaller islands. The landscape is mountainous, but the mountains are more rounded in shape than the mountains of the Lofoten Islands, which are located not far from Vesterålen. Towns and villages are situated along the coastal edge between the mountains and the fjords. The Sortland municipality is located on the islands of Langøya and Hinnøya in the Vesterålen archipelago, surrounding the inner part of the Eidfjord and the Sortlandsundet strait.

As such, there aren’t any major sights here. Clean mountain rivers, sharp peaks, untouched nature-these are the main treasures of Vesterålen. Nevertheless, there are plenty of opportunities to spend time wonderfully here, from hiking through the beautiful valleys and mountains of the islands to special cruises, where tourists can observe marine mammals up close in their natural habitat.

The climate in Vesterålen is maritime, with mild winters, given that the archipelago lies significantly north of the Arctic Circle. The average temperature in January is −1.8 °C, in July +12.3 °C. The average annual temperature is 4.3 °C. The rainiest time of year is autumn; the average amount of precipitation falling during this season is 1220 mm.