Kvæfjord

Kvæfjord (Giehtavuotna) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Central Hålogaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borkenes. Other villages include Hundstad, Langvassbukta, and Revsnes. Together with Harstad, the two municipalities cover a large part of the island of Hinnøya in the southern part of the Troms county. Kvæfjord consists mostly of mountains and fjords. The municipality centers on the Kvæfjorden and Gullesfjorden. Kvæfjord is also where the Norwegian national cake, Kvæfjord cake, originally comes from. The municipality is the 208th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Kvæfjord is the 238th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,789. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 7.8% over the previous 10-year period. Kvæfjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 25 October 1956, a part of Kvæfjord (population: 32) was transferred to neighboring Trondenes municipality. On 1 January 2000, the part of Kvæfjord that surrounded the Godfjorden (population: 102) was transferred from Kvæfjord to Sortland municipality (in neighboring Nordland county). On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after local fjord known as the Kvæfjorden (Kviðjufjǫrðr) since the first Kvæfjord Church was built along the shore of the fjord. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the island Kviðja (now known as Kvæøya) which lies in the fjord. The name of the island might be derived from the word kviðr which means "belly" or "stomach". The last element of the name is fjǫrðr which means "fjord". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled Kvædfjord. The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a strawberry plant Or" (I grønt en gull jordbærplante).