Finnmark

Coordinates: 70°N 25°E / 70°N 25°E / 70; 25
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the obsolete currency, see Finnish markka. For the newspaper, see Finnmarken.

Finnmark County
Finnmark fylke
Finnmárkku fylka
Finmarkun fylkki
Finnmarkin lääni (Finnish)
County
Finmarkens amt  (historic name)
Silfar canyon in Porsanger, 2022 August
Silfar canyon in Porsanger, 2022 August
Northern Sami
 • Other language(s)Kven
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-20[4]
Income (per capita)128,300 kr (2001)
GDP (per capita)185,563 kr (2001)
GDP national rank#18 in Norway
(0.9% of country)
WebsiteOfficial website
Data from Statistics Norway

Finnmark

Northern Sami: Finnmárku [ˈfinːmaːrku]; Kven: Finmarkku; Finnish: Finnmark; Russian: Финнмарк) is a county in the northern part of Norway
.

On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouring county of Troms to form the new Troms og Finnmark county. On 1 January 2024, the counties of Finnmark and Troms were restored after a decision made by parliament on 15 June 2022 to separate them.[6][7][1]

By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland (Lapland region) to the south, and Russia (Murmansk Oblast) to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea (Atlantic Ocean) to the northwest, and the Barents Sea (Arctic Ocean) to the north and northeast.

The county was formerly known as Finmarkens amt or Vardøhus amt. Starting in 2002, it has two official names: Finnmark (

Sápmi region, which spans four countries, as well as the Barents Region
, and is the second largest and least populated county of Norway.

Situated at the northernmost part of continental

Norwegian coastline swings eastward, Finnmark is an area "where East meets West," in culture as well as in nature and geography. Vardø, the easternmost municipality in Norway, is located farther east than the cities of Saint Petersburg and Istanbul
.

Four municipalities (of the district's 18) had population increases during

Q1 in 2021: Alta, Tana, Berlevåg and Loppa.[8]

Etymology

See also:
Marches

The name, Finnmark, derives from the

Sámi people, and the last element is mǫrk, which means "woodland" or "borderland". In Norse times the name referred to the land of the Sami people, or any place where Sámi people lived.[9]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is black with a gold-colored castle tower—its blazon reads, "Sable, a single-towered castle Or". The design is from 1967 and shows the old Vardøhus Fortress, historically on the eastern border with Russia.[10]

Geography

Hammerfest Municipality
Altafjorden, Alta
(2003)

Finnmark is the northernmost and easternmost county in Norway (Svalbard is not considered a county). By area, Finnmark is Norway's second-largest county, even larger than the neighboring country of Denmark. With a population of about 75,000, it is also the least populated of all Norwegian counties. Finnmark has a total coastline of 6,844 kilometres (4,253 mi), including 3,155 kilometres (1,960 mi) of coastline on the islands. Nearly 12,300 people or 16.6 percent of the county's population in 2000 was living in the 100-meter belt along the coastline.

Lebesby Municipality is the northernmost point on the European mainland. Honningsvåg in Finnmark claims to be the northernmost city of the world, and Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway and is farther east than Istanbul
.

The coast is indented by large

Loppa Municipality. Both Øksfjordjøkelen and Seiland Glacier
are located in the western part of Finnmark.

The Øksfjord

plateau glacier calved
directly into the sea (Jøkelfjorden) until 1900, the last glacier in mainland Norway to do so. The central and eastern part of Finnmark is generally less mountainous, and has no glaciers. The land east of Nordkapp is mostly below 300 m (980 ft).

The nature varies from barren coastal areas facing the

Downy birch
.

The most lush areas are the

musk-rats, stemming from their introduction from their native North America into Europe in the early 20th century which included their release in a total of 293 localities all over Finland from 1919 and onwards, and then of ca 1,000 muskrats on the Kola Peninsula during 1931–1936. The animal spread and the observations of first 'possible' muskrats in the river Alta area in Troms, northern Norway (Vik 1963) were made around 1960, though the first actual specimen was not recovered until 1969 when a muskrat was captured alive in Smalfjord [no] at Tana, Norway (Lund & Wikan 1995). In 1970, another specimen was collected from Jarfjorden in the Sør-Varanger district in Finnmark (Pedersen 1970). Between 1980 and 1988 there were very few observations of muskrats in Norway (Lund & Wikan 1995). Since 1988 there has been a rapid population increase in Sör-Varanger, and the muskrat has spread to almost every part of the municipality.[11] Lynx and moose
are common in large parts of Finnmark, but rare on the coast.

Pasvikelva river. Near the far left corner of the map is the green Målselv valley of Troms, with the Målselva
river.

The interior parts of the county are part of the great

pine
forest.

The

Pasvikelva defines the border with Russia
.

Climate

Alta airport/Alta (1961–90)
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
32
 
 
−5
−13
 
 
25
 
 
−5
−12
 
 
23
 
 
−1
−9
 
 
17
 
 
3
−4
 
 
20
 
 
8
2
 
 
33
 
 
14
7
 
 
54
 
 
17
10
 
 
49
 
 
15
9
 
 
38
 
 
10
4
 
 
39
 
 
4
−1
 
 
34
 
 
−1
−7
 
 
36
 
 
−3
−11
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: met.no/klimastatistikk/eklima
Imperial conversion
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
1.3
 
 
22
9
 
 
1
 
 
24
11
 
 
0.9
 
 
29
17
 
 
0.7
 
 
37
25
 
 
0.8
 
 
46
35
 
 
1.3
 
 
57
45
 
 
2.1
 
 
63
50
 
 
1.9
 
 
59
48
 
 
1.5
 
 
50
40
 
 
1.5
 
 
39
30
 
 
1.3
 
 
31
20
 
 
1.4
 
 
26
13
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

The

Bear Island
. Sihcajavri has also recorded 34.3 °C (93.7 °F) on 23 June 1920.

Due to the proximity to the ice-free ocean, winters are much milder in coastal areas (and more windy);

Loppa Municipality has average January and July temperatures of −2 °C (28 °F) and 11.6 °C (52.9 °F) respectively, with an annual mean of 3.6 °C (38.5 °F),[13] despite being further north. Average annual precipitation is 914 millimetres (36.0 in) and the wettest season is September until December. The year average temperature difference between Loppa and Karasjok (6 °C) is comparable to the difference between Loppa and London.[14]

In the Köppen climate classification, the climate in Karasjok–and most of the lowland areas in Finnmark–corresponds to the Dfc category (subarctic climate), while the Loppa climate corresponds to the Cfc category. The northeastern coast, from Nordkapp east to Vardø, have arctic tundra climate (Köppen: ET), as the average July temperature is below 10 °C (50 °F).

Kjøllefjord on the northeastern coast

Furthermore, elevations exceeding approximately 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) in coastal areas in western Finnmark and 300 to 500 metres (980 to 1,640 ft) in the interior result in an alpine climate, and in the northeast this merges with the Arctic tundra climate.

The climate in sheltered parts of fjord areas (particularly the

Altafjorden) is usually considered the most hospitable: winters are not as cold as in the interior, and summer warmth is comparable. Even if winter temperatures are milder in coastal areas, the coast is more exposed to winter storms
, which often complicate or shut down road and air communications.

Midnight sun

Sunrise at 07:33 in February; Vadsø

Situated far north of the Arctic Circle, Finnmark has midnight sun from the middle of May until late July. Conversely, in two months of the winter, from late November to late January, the county experiences polar nights where the sun is always below the horizon. As a consequence, there is continuous daylight from early May to early August. At midwinter, there is only a bluish twilight for a couple of hours around noon, which can almost reach full daylight if there are clear skies to the south.

Northern lights

Finnmark is situated in the

Alta Municipality was early chosen as a location for the study of this strange light phenomenon. For this reason, Alta
is sometimes referred to as the city of the northern lights.

Economy

The Hammerfest suburb of Rypefjord

Pacific ocean but brought to the Barents sea by the Russians, have invaded from the east and are now being exploited commercially (especially in the Varangerfjord
). To prevent the crab from spreading too far south, crab fishing west of Nordkapp is totally unregulated.

In more recent years,

North Cape (in Nordkapp) and the towns of Alta and Hammerfest
as the most important destinations.

As of 2001, one percent of the work force were employed in the oil industry and the mining industry.

There is some mining industry, though exploitation of the

ores along the Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line was paused in 2015 and has not restarted as of 2022.[15]

The slate industry in Alta is well known and have sold to customers as far away as Japan.

An irregular

Norwegian kroner
83 million, is still (as of 2022) causing fear that Finnmark will alone get stuck with paying off the boat (when Finnmark becomes a county in 2024); the expense can lead to budget cuts.

The town of Hammerfest is experiencing an economic boom as a consequence of

oil field was discovered in 2009 just 45 km (28 mi) off shore,[19][20]
close to the Snøhvit field.

There is optimism in the eastern part of the county, as the growing petroleum activity in the Barents Sea is expected to generate increased economic activity on land as well.[21]

Some

pathogens of wheat, and S. b. also affects rye, barley, and some trees.[22]

Infrastructure

There are eleven airports, but only

Gsv
) in the east, which guards the border with Russia.

Administration

Main article: Finnmark County Municipality
Vadsø with the church, February 2004

The town of

East-Finnmark
(Øst-Finnmark).

Until 2006,

Sami Parliament of Norway. The Sami Parliament of Norway is based in the village of Karasjok
.

The national government runs the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority which in turn owns and operates two hospitals in Finnmark, located in Kirkenes and Hammerfest.

Municipalities

There were 19 municipalities in Finnmark when the county merged into Troms og Finnmark. 18 of those exist as of 2021.

Municipalities in Finnmark
Key
  1. Alta
  2. Berlevåg
  3. Båtsfjord
  4. Gamvik
  5. Hammerfest
  6. Hassvik
  7. Kárášjohka or Karasjok
  8. Guovdageaidnu or Kautokeino
  9. Hammerfest
    (formerly Kvalsund, merged in 2020)
  10. Lebesby
  11. Loppa
  12. Måsøy
  13. Unjárga or Nesseby
  14. Nordkapp
  15. Porsanger or Porsángu or Porsanki
  16. Sør-Varanger
  17. Deatnu or Tana
  18. Vadsø
  19. Vardø

History

Historical population
YearPop.±%
195164,511—    
196172,104+11.8%
197176,311+5.8%
198178,331+2.6%
199174,590−4.8%
200174,087−0.7%
201173,417−0.9%
201675,758+3.2%
Source: Statistics Norway.[23]
Religion in Finnmark[24][25]
religion percent
Christianity
 
 89.2%
Islam
 
 0.32%
Buddhism
 
 0.11%
Other
 
 10.37%

People have lived in Finnmark for at least 10,000 years (see

Norwegian people, and the Kven people. Of these, the Sami probably were the first people to explore Finnmark. Ohthere of Hålogaland was an adventurous Norwegian (Norseman) from Hålogaland, the area roughly corresponding to today's Nordland county. Around 890 AD, he claimed, according to historical sources (see Ohthere of Hålogaland) that he lived "north-most of all the Northmen", and that "no one [lived] to the north of him." Later, Norwegians in the 14th century, and Kvens in the 16th century, settled along the coast. See the articles on Kven people and Vardøhus Fortress
for more details.

Sami

Main article:
Sami history

The Sami are the indigenous people of Finnmark, but Norwegians have lived for hundreds of years on the islands' outer parts, where they made up the majority. The

Sami people
still constitute the majority in Finnmark's interior parts, while the fjord areas have been ethnically mixed for a long time. This essentially holds true today.

The Sami were for many years victims of the

Sami language
started in schools, and a new sense of consciousness started to grow among the Sami; today most are proud of their background and culture.

In the midst of this awakening (1979), Norway's government decided to build a

Alta Conflict. In the end, the dam was built on a much smaller scale than originally intended and the Sami culture was on the government's agenda. The Sami parliament
(Sámediggi) was opened in Karasjok in 1989.

Norwegian

A Dutch map of Finnmark (1660), showing the border between Norway, Sweden and Russia.

Novgorodians continued until 1326, when the Treaty of Novgorod
settled the issue.

The first known

the world's most northern fortress. In the 17th century, 88 young women were burned as witches in Vardø, an extremely high number compared to the total population in this area at the time.[26]
The first person burned as witch in Vardø in the 17th century was a man. [Vardø archives]

Finnmark first became subject to increased colonization in the 18th and 19th century. Norway, Sweden, and Russia all claimed control over this area. Finland was part of Russia at that time and had no independent representative. Finnmark was given the status of an

Amt (county) in the 19th century. For a time, there was a vibrant trade with Russia (Pomor trade), and many Norwegians settled on the Kola Peninsula (see Kola Norwegians
).

Kven

Main article: Kven people

The Finnic Kven residents of Finnmark are largely descendants of Finnish-speaking immigrants who arrived in the area in the 18th century from Meänmaa, and later in the 19th century from Finland, suffering from famine and war.[27]

Brief summary

In 1576, the

Sami language
name, Finnmárku, was added as a co-official name for the county.

Per Fugelli has said that World War II resulted in many persons acquiring psychiatric disorders (psykiske senskadene) which could be from experiencing "bombing, accidents involving mines, burning down of homes, forcible evacuation, illness and starvation during the war and liberation. But it was maybe in particular the treatment of Russian prisoners that left marks on the local population."[28]

World War II

Towards the end of World War II, with Operation Nordlicht, the Germans used the scorched earth tactic in Finnmark and northern Troms to halt the Red Army. As a consequence of this, few houses survived the war, and a large part of the population was forcefully evacuated further south (Tromsø was crowded), but many people avoided evacuation by hiding in caves and mountain huts and waited until the Germans were gone, then inspected their burned homes. There were 11,000 houses, 4,700 cow sheds, 106 schools, 27 churches, and 21 hospitals burned. There were 22,000 communications lines destroyed, roads were blown up, boats destroyed, animals killed, and 1,000 children separated from their parents.[29]

After taking the town of

landmines. The ban lasted until the summer of 1945 when evacuees were told that they could finally return home.[citation needed
]

Fra Hammerfest by Peder Balke (1851)
Neiden in Sør-Varanger

Cold War

The Cold War was a period with sometimes high tension in eastern Finnmark, at the 196-kilometre (122 mi) long border with the Soviet Union. To keep tensions from getting too high, Norway declared that no NATO exercises would take place in Finnmark.[30]

Demographics

The old

Komsa culture is very difficult to relate to the people living in Finnmark today. There are findings suggesting that the Sami people have been there for a long time, but exactly how long is unclear, some scholars [who?] claiming 8000 years but others [who?
] only 2500 years. From the 10th century, the coastal areas have been populated and visited by ethnic Norwegians, and Finnmark became part of the kingdom.

The

Sápmi
have unofficial names in Sámi as well.

In the 18th century and the 19th century, many Finnish-speaking

immigrants settled in Finnmark. Since 1996, they have had minority status as Kven people. The town of Vadsø (Kven: Vesisaari) is often seen as the "Kven capital" in Finnmark.[31]

Lakselv, in central Finnmark, is sometimes referred to as "meeting place for three tribes". After the collapse of the Soviet Union and severe economic troubles in the Russian economy during the 90s, Russian immigrants and shoppers arrived in Kirkenes. Since the beginning of the

European migrant crisis many Syrian refugees arrived in Kirkenes via Russia.[32]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Lægland, Martin (29 October 2021). "Vedum: Startet prosessen med oppløsning av Troms og Finnmark". Verdens Gang. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  3. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  4. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget
    .
  5. Kartverket
    . Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  6. ^ Føleide, Anita (14 June 2022). "Vedtatt i Stortinget: Storfylkene skal splittes igjen, nå ønsker de ansatte ro og forutsigbarhet". NRK. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Jubel i nord etter skilsmissen: – Nå skal vi feire!" (in Norwegian). NRK. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Vi blir stadig færre i fylket: – Folk har en tendens til å flytte herfra når barna kommer i skolealder". 19 May 2021.
  9. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1924). Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (18 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 1–7.
  10. Store norske leksikon. "Finnmark" (in Norwegian). Archived
    from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  11. ^ Danell, Kjell. (1996). Introductions of aquatic rodents: lessons of the muskrat Ondatra zibethicus invasion. Wildlife Biology. 2. 213–220. 10.2981/wlb.1996.021.
  12. ^ "Norwegian Meteorological Records". met.no. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  13. ^ "Meteorological data". met.no. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  14. ^ "Meteorological data". worldclimate.com. 4 February 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  15. ^ Sydvaranger (gruveselskap), Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 2022-10-15
  16. ^ NRK no. Retrieved 2022-20-15
  17. ^ Duval-Smith, Alex (27 November 2005). "Arctic booms as climate change melts polar ice cap". London: Observer.guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  18. ^ "Snøhvit". Statoil.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  19. ^ "Aftenpost article". Aftenposten.no. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  20. ^ "Aftenpost article". Aftenposten.no. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  21. ^ "Norwegian environmental group Bellona". Bellona.no. Archived from the original on 20 September 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  22. S2CID 85291046
    .
  23. ^ "Statistikkbanken". ssb.no. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  24. ^ "Statistikkbanken". ssb.no. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  25. ^ Statistics Norway – Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006–2010 Archived November 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "BioOne article". Bioone.org. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  27. ^ politidepartementet, Justis- og (1 August 1996). "NOU 1994: 21". Regjeringen.no. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  28. ^ NRK (13 September 2013). "Den glemte krigen". NRK. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  29. ^ Zimmerman, Susan (November–December 2010). "Finnmark". World War II Magazine. Vol. 25, no. 4. p. 31.
  30. S2CID 154321588
    .
  31. ^ "Den kvenske folkevandringen til Troms og Finnmark" (in Norwegian). nordlys.no. 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  32. ^ Haroon Siddique (18 November 2015). "Bicycles used by Syrian refugees to enter Norway from Russia to be destroyed". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finnmark.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Finnmark.
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