Vega Archipelago
Sign in to saveor the is a group of islands in the Norwegian Sea in Nordland county, Norway. The archipelago is mostly located in Vega Municipality. Since 2004, the archipelago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This cluster of around 6,500 small islands just south of the Arctic Circle, surrounds the main island of Vega and has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Other larger islands in the group include Igerøya, Ylvingen, and Søla.
Key facts
- Islands.name
- Vega Archipelago
- Islands.image_name
- Vegavista.jpg
- Islands.location
- Nordland, Norway
- Islands.mapframe zoom
- 9
- Islands.country
- Norway
- Islands.country_admin_divisions_title
- County
- Islands.country_admin_divisions
- Nordland
- Islands.country_admin_divisions_title_1
- Municipality
- Islands.country_admin_divisions_1
- Vega Municipality
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.child
- yes
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.official_name
- Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.location
- Nordland, Norway
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.criteria
- (v)
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.ID
- 1143bis
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.year
- 2004
- UNESCO World Heritage Site.extension
- 2017
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Important Bird Area
- ''The Place of Tides''
- References
- External links
or the is a group of islands in the Norwegian Sea in Nordland county, Norway. The archipelago is mostly located in Vega Municipality. Since 2004, the archipelago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This cluster of around 6,500 small islands just south of the Arctic Circle, surrounds the main island of Vega and has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Other larger islands in the group include Igerøya, Ylvingen, and Søla.
==Description== thumb|left|Eidem beach on Vega The islands bear testimony to a distinctive frugal way of life based on fishing and the harvesting of the down of eider ducks, in an inhospitable environment. There are fishing villages, quays, eider houses (built for eider ducks to nest), farmland, and lighthouses. There is evidence of human settlement from the Stone Age onwards. By the 9th century, the islands had become an important centre for the supply of down, which appears to have accounted for around a third of the islanders' income.