(Norwegian; lit. 'Whale Island') or is an island in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. At 737 km2, it is the fifth largest island in mainland Norway. It is connected to the neighboring island of Tromsøya to the east by the Sandnessund Bridge, to the island of Ringvassøya to the north by the sub-sea Kvalsund Tunnel, to the small island of Sommarøya to the west by the Sommarøy Bridge, and to the mainland to the south by the Rya Tunnel. The island of Sommarøy, on the southwest coast, is a popular recreation area with magnificent coastal scenery.

Geography

Kvaløya is a mountainous island, with at least ten mountains higher than 700 m, and three reaching an elevation of more than 1000 m; of which the highest is Store Blåmann (big blueman at 1044 m, can be climbed without climbing equipment, last part is steep). There are also several small fjords, almost dividing the island in two or three parts: Kaldfjorden, Ersfjorden, and Kattfjorden. The Rystraumen is a tidal current in the Straumsfjorden strait separating Kvaløya from the mainland to the south. Near this current, on the Kvaløya side, is Straumhella (30 km from the city), a popular recreation area with good fishing opportunities. Ryøya is an island in the midst of Rystraumen, formerly home to a small population of musk oxen that lived in the pine forest. The last musk ox, known as Alma, was discovered dead in 2013; an autopsy revealed that she had plastic in her stomach. Someone had left the rings of a beer six-pack behind on the island and Alma was found to have eaten them.

Demography

Approximately 13,000 people live on Kvaløya, most of them on the eastern side near Kvaløysletta (which constitutes a suburban area of the city of Tromsø) near the Sandnessund Bridge.

Climate

According to official climate statistics, the west coast of Kvaløya, facing the open ocean, is the warmest part of Tromsø municipality. The weather station at Sommarøy on the west coast has 24-hr averages of -1.9 C in January, 11.9 C in July and a mean annual temperature of 3.9 C, while annual precipitation is 940 mm.

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