Nordland - Economy

Economy

The key industries are fisheries and offshore petroleum exploration. Nordland is well known for the fishing of codfish and fish farming of salmon. Main export markets are Germany, Scandinavia, Britain, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Russia and Japan.

Tourism is important, mainly in the summer season, although there are some winter visitors looking for good skiing or wanting to see the Northern Lights, especially from February to April. Tourists are attracted by the scenic coast, especially Lofoten, which is also visited by many cruise ships in the summer, while the rest of the county often is ignored by tourists. Mountain hiking is popular among natives and some tourists.

Whale watching attracts tourists to Andøy and the Tysfjord /Lødingen /Svolvær area, and fishing is also popular along the coast and in the salmon and trout rivers; there is also Arctic char in some rivers. Saltstraumen has the world record for coalfish using a fishing rod, and Røst has the world record for halibut, 202 kg .

Farming is another regional economy, and consists mainly of dairy farming and livestock such as sheep, and domesticated reindeer graze the inland highlands. There is also some forestry, particularly in the Helgeland district, but also further north. In earlier days, grain was grown in Nordland (mostly barley, some oats). Nordlandshest is the smallest of the three Norwegian horse breeds. Norwegian Lundehund was breed to hunt puffins and only saved from extinction due to a few remaining dogs in Lofoten.

There is a long history of mining. Sulitjelma has the largest copper deposits in the county, as well as pyrite, the latter is also found in several other locations, but the mining here has been discontinued for economical reasons. In earlier days, silver was mined in Dunderlandsdal in Rana, and until 2002 nickel and olivine was mined in Ballangen. There are several limestone, marble, and dolostone quarries, dolomite in Vefsn, Fauske, Sørfold and Ballangen. As of 2008, mining of gold in Bindal is in testing stages . The port of Narvik has a direct rail connection to the well known and profitable Kiruna-Gällivare iron-ore fields in Sweden. There are many dams for hydroelectric power. Nordland has an increasing diverse economy, with fledgling research and development in aerospace and space exploration at the Andøya Rocket Range, which primarily is known for its satellite launches. This vast province, Norway's second largest, almost the size of Denmark, traditionally was very important for NATO, and the Royal Norwegian Air Force has two squadrons of F-16 fighters stationed at Bodø Airport, and all its P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft stationed at Andøya Air Station. The decommissioning of closing military bases has led to a regional shift towards a new knowledge based economy.

There are local hospitals in Mosjøen, Sandnessjøen, Mo i Rana, Bodø (the largest), Gravdal, Narvik and Stokmarknes.

Bodø Airport is the busiest airport, and a hub for many smaller airports in Nordland. Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes in the north also has non-stop flights to Oslo. The E6 runs along the entire length of Nordland. There are many tunnels and bridges; some of the largest are Helgeland Bridge, Gimsøystraumen Bridge, Raftsund Bridge, Skjomen Bridge, Rombak Bridge, Hadsel Bridge, Sortland Bridge, Andøy Bridge, Saltstraumen Bridge, Kjellingstraumen Bridge and Brønnøysund Bridge. Even with improved communications, population numbers in Nordland has actually decreased slightly since 1990, as many young people move to larger cities in Norway. Bodø is the only municipality in the county with a significant growth in population.