Varangerhalvøya National Park
Varangerhalvøya National Park | |
---|---|
Location | Finnmark, Norway |
Nearest city | Vadsø |
Coordinates | 70°20′N 29°38′E / 70.333°N 29.633°E |
Area | 1,804.1 km2 (445,800 acres) |
Established | 2006 |
Governing body | Directorate for Nature Management |
Varangerhalvøya National Park (
Flora and fauna
Since species from the Arctic, eastern Siberia, and more southerly areas all occur together on the Varanger Peninsula, the plant life is distinctive. The small deciduous woodlands in the area are among the northernmost in the world.
Lime-rich bedrock and soil in the north supports rich pockets containing rare species like ).
The peninsula still has a complete alpine ecosystem with reindeer (domesticated), wolverine, and Arctic fox. The latter is the most endangered mammal species of Norway. A special programme based on reducing the number of the dominant red fox has shown very good results (per 2008) for the small Arctic fox population.
Important Bird Area
An area of about 200,000 ha of the peninsula, largely coinciding with the national park, has been designated an
Name
The last element is the finite form of halvøy ("peninsula"). The meaning of the first part of the name is originally the name of a fjord, (Old Norse: Ver(j)angr). The first part is ver meaning "fishing village" and the last part is angr which means "fjord".[4]
References
- ^ "Weather statistics for Båtsfjord as a table - Last 13 months".
- ^ "Weather statistics for Vardø radio as a table - Last 13 months".
- ^ "Varanger Peninsula". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- Store norske leksikon. "Varanger"(in Norwegian). Retrieved 2013-02-25.