Botnhamn is a small place in Northern Norway, north of the artic circle. The population is only about 500 and the place is spread out about 10-15 km along the Stønnesbotn fjord. The village is located all the way north on Norway's second largest island; Senja, not far from Tromsø, the biggest city in northern Norway. Click here to see a map!

Botnhamn got its name from the local shopkeeper Ole Meyer who came to the village in 1905 and established a local shop, Meyer & Co., on his lot which he called...Botnhamn. The villagers then started to use the term "going to Botnhamn to shop" and hence the village got its name.

The main branch of industry is the fisheries and there are several fishing vessels and small fishing boats operating year round out of Botnhamn. There are only a few establishments in the village; basically a fish processing industry, a fish farm, a local store, a primary and secondary school, a kindergarten, a camping ground, a small fire station, a very small museum, a ferry link and a few other individual enterprises.

Botnhamn is located by the sea and surrounded by mountains. This makes the village a beautiful and wild setting against the nature. The summer is bright and warm as the midnight sun is shining all night long from mid-May to mid-July. The winter is cold and dark as there is hardly any daylight from mid-December to mid-February. Christmas feels very special this far north with lots of white snow. The northern lights can be seen on clear winter nights putting up a magnificent lightshow among the stars.

The people of Botnhamn are very friendly but sometimes hard to get in touch with. They are like typical Northern-Norwegians, shy and not saying much, unless spoken to. The average population of Botnhamn is growing older and older as the younger generations are moving to bigger towns and cities where it is easier to study and get work. This is a typical Northern-Norwegian phenomena and along the northern Norwegian coast there are many "ghost-villages" due to this. However, it seems like Botnhamn has a will of its own to survive as there have been a lot of positive moves and establishments during the last years.

In 2000 Botnhamn got a very important ferry link to Brensholmen connecting Senja with the island of Kvaløya. The name of the link is "Malangsforbindelsen" and it is a beautiful and scenic trip across the Malangen strait.  During the summer months it is now possible to make the trip from Botnhamn to Northern Norway's biggest city, Tromsø, in about 1 1/2 hours. The normal drive, through Finnsnes to the south, takes about 3 hours. The ferry link is part of coastal route Kystriksveien (The Whale Route) as three Senjaferries connect the islands of Vesterålen, Senja and the regions of Harstad together.

This site is an unofficial site administrated by Morten Meyer.