Bodø (Lule Sámi: Bådåddjo; Pite Sámi: Buvvda; Northern Sámi:
Budejju) is a town and municipality in the province of Salten in
Nordland county. Bodø is Nordland's largest city and municipality
measured by number of inhabitants, and is the administration center
in the county.
In northern Norway, only Tromsø municipality
has a larger population, but in return Bodø is the most populous
settlement in the region. The town of Bodø, as defined by Statistics
Norway, has 42,102 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. The Bodø
region, which was defined by a report to the Storting from 2002,
covers the municipalities of Bodø, Gildeskål and Beiarn. It had
53,257 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020, and is thus Norway's 15th
most populous urban region.
Bodø municipality is centrally
located in the middle of the county, and out by the coast. Bodø is
part of the landscape and the Salten region, which together cover
nine municipalities. Five of these border Bodø. Sørfold is northeast
of Bodø, Fauske borders to the east, Saltdal is to the southwest,
while Beiarn and Gildeskål both border Bodø's southern municipal
border. In the north, Bodø also has a marine border to Steigen over
Folda. The central part of the municipality is located on the Bodø
Peninsula. North of this is Kjerringøy, while Tverlandet,
Saltstraumen and Skjerstad are all south of the municipality. These
four make up Bodø municipality's four municipal districts, which are
the areas outside the districts. These each have their own elected
local government to safeguard local interests.
Bodø's history
dates back to the Stone Age, when stable fish catches made
Saltstraumen Bodø's oldest settlement. What is the inner city today
has been beach areas, but when the water receded, the large flat
areas at the far end of the Bodø Peninsula were gradually turned
into cultivated land. The stable fishing meant that Bodø was granted
city status on 20 May 1816. This was to create a market town near
Lofoten, so that the fish did not have to go through Bergen first,
which currently had a monopoly on saltwater fishing. Bodø did not,
however, have an immediate population development, only in the
1860s, when herring fishing came, Bodø became a noticeable town on
the map of Norway. Bodø was rebuilt after World War II, and since
then the built-up area has grown significantly beyond the
traditional downtown area. Since the 1960s, most of the housing
construction has taken place eastwards along national road 80, and
about ten kilometers eastwards from the city center. Here are, among
other things, the districts Hunstad and Mørkved which have their own
district centers, but which still largely have the character of
suburbs or sleeping towns. Gradually, the town has also grown along
an axis northwards towards Kjerringøy, such as the settlements in
Skivika and Løpsmarka. Løding is Bodø's second largest town, and is
located 15 kilometers east of the city center, in the innermost part
of the peninsula Tverlandet.
In recent times, Bodø's business
community has become less based on fishing, although it is still a
significant industry, and has shifted more to business-related
companies and administration. Bodø Næringsforum has around 250
registered member companies, and among the largest workplaces we
find Nordland County Municipality, Nordland Hospital and Nord
University. Bodø is also home to a number of national, regional and
local companies, institutions and enterprises, both in the state and
private sector. Norway's only employer organization with
headquarters outside Oslo, the National Association of Private
Kindergartens, can be found in the city. Nordland Police District,
Salten District Court and Salten Brann IKS are regional
administrations.