Bodø

Bodø, town and port, north-central Norway. It is located at the end of a peninsula projecting into the Norwegian Sea, at the entrance to Salt Fjord. Bodø was founded by Trondheim merchants and chartered in 1816. A commercial-fishing centre specializing in cod drying, it also has ship repair yards and a brewery. In World War II much of the town was destroyed by German air and ground action, but it has been completely rebuilt and enlarged. Reconstruction included a large airport and the extension of the North Norway Railway to Bodø from Lønsdal to the southeast. Places of interest include the 13th-century Bodin Church and the Bodø Cathedral (Lutheran), a modern edifice (consecrated 1956). About 20 miles (30 km) from the town, at the southern side of Salt Fjord, is the narrow marine channel known as Saltstraumen, famous for its strong tidal current and its whirlpools, which rival those of the Maelstrom, to the northwest. Bodø’s far northern site enables the midnight sun to be seen for about a month (early June–early July). Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 45,575.