SVOLVR

chief town and port of the Lofoten island group, Nordland fylke (county), northern Norway. It is on the southern coast of Austvgya, the easternmost island of the group. Svolvr's economy is almost entirely dependent on cod fisheries. At the height of the fishing season (January-April), the town's population swells by many thousands, as local fishermen are joined by others from farther south. The town's industries, ancillary to fishing, include the processing of cod-liver oil and the production of fertilizer from fish viscera. Local shipyards build and repair fishing boats. The rugged and bleak countryside around Svolvr has attracted both tourists and artists, and the town has become something of an artists' colony. Gunnar Berg (186393), a native of the Lofoten group, painted memorable scenes of the everyday life of the local fisherfolk; one of his best-known works hangs in Svolvr's town hall. Pop. (1970) mun., 3,942.