Bodø is a town and a municipality, the largest urban area and city in Nordland county, and the second-largest in North Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten and it is the capital of Nordland county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø. Other villages in Bodø include Misvær, Skjerstad, Saltstraumen, Løding, Løpsmarka, Kjerringøy, Sørvær, and Fenes. The town lies just north of the Arctic Circle where the midnight sun is visible from 2 June to 10 July. Due to atmospheric refraction, there is no true polar night in Bodø, but because of the mountains south of Bodø, the sun is not visible from the city from early December to early January. Average number of sunhours in Bodø is highest in June with 221 hours.
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 University of Nordland is located 10 km outside the city centre. The university has around 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offers Ph.D degrees in the fields of Business, Sociology, Aquaculture and Practical knowledge. The university is one of the leading academic environments for aquaculture in Norway. The largest shopping centre in Nordland, City Nord, is located in Bodø.
Bodø Airport lies just south of the city centre and was opened in 1952. The airport served 1,308,000 passengers in 2004 and is the site of Bodø Air Traffic Control Center. The airline Widerøe has its head office in Bodø. Ferries run between Bodø and the Lofoten Islands to the west.
Besides Saltstraumen, the municipality of Bodø has lots of wilderness to offer hikers. About 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Bodø lies the popular recreation area Geitvågen. The area is inhabited by a large number of White-tailed Eagles. Sjunkhatten National Park is partly located in Bodø municipality, and there are also 17 nature reserves. Sundstraumlian nature reserve has undisturbed mixed forest with marble bedrock, Skånland with coastal pine forest, Børvatnet protecting a birch forest with many orchids, and Bliksvær nature reserve with well preserved coastal nature of many types and a rich bird life, making it a Ramsar site as well.
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