Straumsfjord (Troms and Finnmark)
| Straumsfjord | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Connects waters | Malangsfjord | |
| with water | Balsfjord | |
| Separates land mass | Kvaløy | |
| of land mass | mainland norway | |
| Data | ||
| Geographical location | 69 ° 33 ' N , 18 ° 36' E | |
|
||
| length | 18 km | |
| Smallest width | 3 km | |
| Islands | Ryoy | |
| tunnel | Ryatunnel | |
The Straumsfjord ( Norwegian Straumsfjorden ) is a sound south of Tromsø in the Fylke (province) Troms og Finnmark in North-Norge , Norway . Most of it is in the area of Tromsø municipality and a small part of the neighboring municipality of Balsfjord to the south and separates the large island of Kvaløy in the north from mainland Norway in the south.
The sound is 18 km long and connects the 60 km long Malangsfjord in the west with the 49 km long Balsfjord in the east. It is usually about 3 km wide, but is divided into two arms shortly before its eastern end by the small island Ryøy (about 2.1 km × 0.9 km) and thus to only 500 m in the north and just under in the south Narrowed 200 m width.
The Straumsfjord begins in the west at Malangsfjord between Kvalnes on Kvaløy in the northwest and Gamnes on the mainland in the southeast. The village of Mjelde stretches along the north bank east of Kvalnes. The village of Straumsbukta lies further to the east, on the Vollbukta which bulges to the north. Both places are served by the road Fv 54, which joins the Fv858 at the east end of the sound.
On the south side of the sound are the villages of Vollstad (opposite the Vollbukta) and Vikran (just before the eastern end of the sound), both on the Fv286 following the south bank of the sound. The former ferry connection across the sound east from Vikran to Larseng on the north side was replaced in September 2011 by the 2,675 m long, two-lane Ryatunnel , which runs the Fv858 under the sound and reaches the city of Tromsø about 10 km further northeast.
About 4 km west of the tunnel and the Sundende at Balsfjord lies the island Ryøy in the middle of the sound. The Litjestraumen, which is just under 200 m wide and at its flattest point less than 5 m deep, runs on its south side. The 500 m wide Storstraumen, also called Rystraumen , runs along the north side of the island , through which the shipping route for coastal traffic between Harstad and Tromsø, also used by the Hurtigruten , runs; the tidal current here reaches a speed of up to 6 knots .
The highest mountains on both sides of the Straumsfjord are on the north side of the Ratinden (871 m), northeast of Mjelde, and on the south side of the Søndre Bentsjordtinden (1168 m), south of Vollstad.
