Everything about Bod totally explained
Bodø is a city and
municipality in the
county of
Nordland, Norway.
The city of Bodø was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt).
Bodin was merged with Bodø January 1, 1968.
Skjerstad was merged with Bodø January 1, 2005. Bodø, located just north of the
Arctic Circle, is the largest city in Nordland, and the second largest in
North Norway.
History
Bodø was granted
township status in 1816 and is now county capital of Nordland. Most of Bodø was destroyed during a
Luftwaffe attack on the 27th of May 1940. 6000 people were living in Bodø, and 3500 people lost their homes in the attack. 15 people lost their lives during the air attack (2
British soldiers and 13 Norwegians). Due to the acute lack of housing, the Swedish government helped build 107 apartments in the winter of 1941. These houses were built tightly together just outside the town. This small area, today in the heart of Bodø, is still called "svenskebyen" — the Swedish town.
The town was subsequently rebuilt after the war. The rebuilding ended in 1959 with the completion of the new town hall.
Bodø received international attention during the
U-2 Crisis in May 1960, when it became known that the
American U-2 pilot
Gary Powers had been shot down over the
Soviet Union on his way from
Pakistan to Bodø.
Toponymy
The municipality is named after the old farm Bodøgård (
Norse Boðvin), since the town was built on its ground. The first element might be
boði m 'sunken rock, skerry', the last element is
vin f 'meadow, pasture'. The last element was later misunderstood as
øy f 'island' (and written with the Danish form
ø).
See also
Bodin
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from 1959. It shows the
Sun, a representation of the
midnight sun.
Geography
The city lies just north of the
Arctic Circle where the
midnight sun is visible from
June 2 to
July 10. Due to atmospheric refraction, there's no true polar night in Bodø, but because of the mountains south of Bodø, the sun isn't visible from the city from early December to early January. Average number of sunhours in Bodø is highest in June with 221 hours; May averages 218 and August 167, while March gets 114, October 54 and December only 0.4 (source: met.no, 1961-90).
As the northern terminus of
Nordlandsbanen, Bodø is the northern end of the
railroad network of Norway. However, travellers going further north will often switch to a corresponding bus in
Fauske bound for
Narvik. There is also a railway from
Narvik to
Kiruna in
Sweden, and further into the Swedish rail network. The railway station opened in 1961.
Bodø Airport lies two km outside the city centre and was opened in 1952. The airport served 1 308 000 passengers in 2004. Ferries run between Bodø and the
Lofoten Islands.
The strongest tidal current in the world is
Saltstraumen, situated some 30 km (20 mi.) east of Bodø.
Located on an unsheltered peninsula in the
Norwegian Sea, Bodø is one of Norway's most windy cities. Snow cover during winter is usually sparse, not only due to the wind, but also an effect of a mild winter climate relative to
latitude with periods of rain being common in winter. Average temperature for January is -2.2 °C, while July 24-hr average is 12.5 °C, annual mean temperature is 4.5 °C and average annual precipitation is 1020 mm. The driest months are April to June, with on average 50 mm rain each month, and the wettest is September to December with on average 120 mm each month. The coldest month on record was February 1966 with a mean of -8.9 °C, and the warmest was July 1937 with a mean of 17.1 °C. Recent years have
tended to be warmer; January average in Bodø (11 m) based on the 17-year period 1991 - 2007 is -0.3 °C, with
average daily high temperature of 2.0 °C (35 °F). July average for the same 17 years is 13.5 °C, with average daily high 16.6 °C (62 °F) (source: eklima at met.no).
Nature and hiking
Besides
Saltstraumen, the municipality of Bodø has lots of wilderness to offer hikers. 10 kilometers north of Bodø lies the popular
recreation area Geitvågen. The area is inhabited by a large number of
White-tailed Eagles. There are 17 nature reserves in the municipality. Sundstraumlian nature reserve has undisturbed mixed forest with marble bedrock (
(External Link
)), Skånland with coastal pine forest (
(External Link)) and Bliksvær nature reserve with well preserved coastal nature of many types and a rich bird life, making it a
Ramsar - site as well (
(External Link)).
Institutions
Bodø University College is located 10 km outside the city centre. 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at BUC. The college is one of the leading academic environments among fisheries in Norway.
Bodø is the location of the only
police academy in Norway outside Oslo. The
Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority is situated in Bodø, as is the
Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for the northern half of Norway. The Norwegian Armed Forces headquarter for North Norway is located at Reitan, east of the city.
Military
Bodø has a long history with the Norwegian armed forces, and especially the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Bodø is the home to a major
NATO airbase, CAOC3, and airforces regularly exercise during winter months during Exercise Strong Resolve. It is also the home of
Bodø Main Air Station, a major Norwegian military air base, which today is a candidate for The Northern Air Base in the new RNoAF system, and Bodin Leir, an RNoAF recruit school including
NASAMS personnel and a national response unit.
Culture
Bodø's local newspaper is the
Avisa Nordland. The local
football club,
FK Bodø/Glimt, plays in the
Norwegian Premier League as of 2008.
The
Norwegian Aviation Museum and
Salten Museum are located in Bodø. Salten Museum has four exhibitions: The
Lofoten Fisheries, a
Sami exhibit, a
Viking treasure and an exhibition about Bodø's history from 1816 to 2000.
The Bodø Cathedral was built in 1956, representing post-war architecture, whereas the Bodin Church just outside the city centre dates from the 13th century, representing a typical medieval stone church.
Bodø is host to the cultural festivals
Nordland Musikkfestuke and
Parkenfestivalen every summer, as well as the free and volunteer based
Bodø Hardcore Festival in early winter.
Notable residents
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bod'.
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