Vega Archipelago

Vega Archipelago
Vega archipelago with the main island Vega
Waters	Atlantic Ocean
Geographical location	65 ° 39 ′  N , 11 ° 55 ′  E Coordinates: 65 ° 39 ′  N , 11 ° 55 ′  E
Number of islands	approx. 6000 islands and islets
Main island	Vega
Total land area	1037 km²
Main island of Vega

The Vega Archipelago (also Vega Islands, Norwegian Vegaøyene ) is a group of islands in the Norwegian region of Sør-Helgeland . The Vega Islands are located near the Arctic Circle to the coast of Helgeland in northern Norway and has a total of 1,037 square kilometers with about 6,000 islands, Holmen and archipelago and part of the sea. The cultural landscape of the Vega Archipelago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 1st, 2004 .

geography

In addition to the approximately 15 by 15 km large main island Vega with the capital Gladstad, the islands of Ylvingen and Omnøy are also inhabited. Other islands are u. a. Lånan and Skogsholmen. The south of the island of Vega is dominated by the 800 m high mountain Trolltinden, while the north is dominated by a moor landscape . The islands of Hysvær and Søla are part of the Hysvær / Søla nature reserve. Other protected areas are the nature reserves Eidemsliene and Lånan / Skjærvær and the bird sanctuaries Lånan, Flovær and Skjærvær and Muddværet.

economy

The most important branches of the economy are agriculture, some livestock, fishing and local services as well as - especially in the past - the eider duck farm for down production.

Mainly herring , cod , coalfish and haddock are caught, some of the fish is processed on site.

Beach of Eidem in the south of the main island Vega

history

The oldest settlements on Vega date back 10,000 years to the Stone Age . These are the oldest documented settlements in Northern Norway. Presumably, the fish-rich waters of the Gulf Stream ensured that people settled there.

UNESCO world heritage

In July 2004, the Unesco decision-making committee confirmed the uniqueness of the open cultural landscape of the Vega Archipelago with its inclusion in the World Heritage List. On the islands of the Vega Archipelago, more than 1,500 years of fishing and farming history bear witness to the hard life of the fishermen and their wives, who traditionally processed the down of the eider ducks. Fishing villages, duck farms, quays, warehouses and lighthouses, and natural areas characterized by agricultural use illustrate their way of life.

The harmonious coexistence of “human” and “animal” inhabitants on Vega in a centuries-old interplay of nature and man was a particularly important aspect for UNESCO when it was awarded the World Heritage status. The inhabitants of the Vega archipelago set up nesting sites for them every March eider ducks under stone walls, in wooden boxes or in small corrugated iron huts. During the breeding season , the women of Vega kept the breeding ducks safe. After the young had fledged in June / July and the ducks left the islands again, the down that the ducks had used to pad the nests was collected in these so-called "eider houses". Particularly high-quality duvets were made from the down. The down has been sold across Europe since the 9th century . Some of these hatcheries for the eiders are still in operation today. On the main island of Vega, in the fishing port of Nes, there is a small museum called E-huset and a documentation center on eider ducks.

On April 20, 2005, in the presence of the Norwegian Queen Sonja, the inclusion of the Vega Archipelago on the UNESCO World Heritage List was honored with a ceremony on the island of Hysvær.

Web links

Commons : Vega Archipelago  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• www.fairkehr-magazin.de - "Ripe for the island"
• Vega Verdensarvområde Official Vega World Heritage Homepage (Norwegian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ World Heritage List, German UNESCO Commission eV, Bonn
2. ↑ Andreas Wobig: Vega, Geographische Daten, piranho.de ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.