The county was formerly known asFinmarkens amt orVardøhus amt. Since 2002, it has had two official names: Finnmark (Norwegian) and Finnmárku (Northern Sami). It is part of theSápmi region, which spans four countries, as well as theBarents Region, and is Norway's second-largest and least populous county.
Situated at the northernmost part of continentalEurope, where theNorwegian coastline swings eastward, Finnmark is an area "where East meets West" in culture as well as in nature and geography.Vardø Municipality, Norway's easternmost municipality, is farther east thanSaint Petersburg andIstanbul.
On 1 January 2020, Finnmark merged with the neighbouring county ofTroms to formTroms og Finnmark county. On 1 January 2024, the counties of Finnmark andTroms were restored after parliament decided on 15 June 2022 to separate them.[6][7][1]
The nameFinnmark is derived fromOld NorseFinnmǫrk: The first element isfinn(ar), the Norse name for theSámi people, and the last element ismǫrk, which means "woodland" or "borderland". In Norse times the name referred to the land of the Sámi people, or any place where Sámi people lived.[8]
The coat of arms is black with a gold-colored castle tower—itsblazon reads, "Sable, a single-towered castle Or". The design is from 1967 and shows the oldVardøhus Fortress, historically on the eastern border with Russia.[9]
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. TheSami 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 years victims of theNorwegianization policy, which in essence was an attempt by the government to make them "true Norwegians" and forget about their Sami way of life and religion, which was seen as inferior. As a result, the Sami living at the coast and in the fjords gradually lost much of their culture and often felt ashamed by their Sami inheritance. The Sami in the interior managed to preserve more of their culture. In the 1970s, instruction of theSami 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 adam in Alta to producehydropower, provoking multiple Sami andenvironmentalists to demonstrations and civil disobedience—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. TheSami parliament (Sámediggi) was opened in Karasjok in 1989.
A Dutch map of Finnmark (1660), showing the border between Norway, Sweden and Russia.
Gjesvær in Nordkapp is mentioned in theSagas (Heimskringla) as a northern harbor in theViking Age, especially used by Vikings on the way toBjarmaland (seeOttar from Hålogaland), and probably also for gathering food in the nearby seabird colony. Coastal areas of Finnmark were colonized by Norwegians beginning in the 10th century, and there are stories describing clashes with theKarelians. Border skirmishes between the Norwegians andNovgorodians continued until 1326, when theTreaty of Novgorod settled the issue.
The first knownfortification in Finnmark isVardøhus festning, first erected in 1306 by KingHaakon V Magnusson. This isthe 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.[10] 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 anAmt (county) in the 19th century. For a time, there was a vibrant trade with Russia (Pomor trade), and a number of Norwegians settled on theKola Peninsula (seeKola Norwegians).
TheFinnicKven residents of Finnmark are largely descendants ofFinnish-speaking immigrants who arrived in the area in the 18th century fromMeänmaa, and later in the 19th century fromFinland, suffering fromfamine and war.[11]
In 1576, theKing of Norway establishedVardøhuslen as a new administrative unit for most northern part of the kingdom. In 1660, it becameVardøhusamt, a subordinate to the largeTrondhjems stiftamt, based inTrondheim. In 1787, theisland of Senja and theTroms area were transferred fromNordlandenes amt to Vardøhus amt. In 1866, the island of Senja and the Troms area were separated from Vardøhus to form the newTromsø amt. In 1919, the name was again changed to Finnmarkfylke. In 2002, theSami 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 involvingmines, 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."[12]
Around 120,000 German forces occupied the area from the summer of 1940 onwards. In 1945 the Germans put into forceOperation Nordlicht, and used thescorched earth tactic in Finnmark and northernTroms to frustrate theRed Army as the Germans retreated southwards. As a consequence of this, few houses survived the war, and around two thirds of the population of 60,000 was forcefully evacuated further south.[13] (Tromsø was crowded), but some 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.[14]
After taking the town ofKirkenes on 25 October 1944 (as the first town in Norway), the Red Army did not attempt further offensives in Norway.Free Norwegian forces arrived from Britain andliberated the rest of the county. When war was over, more than 70,000 people were left homeless in Finnmark. The government imposed a temporary ban on residents returning to Finnmark because of the danger oflandmines. The ban lasted until the summer of 1945 when evacuees were told that they could finally return home.[citation needed]
TheCold War was a period with sometimes high tension in eastern Finnmark, at the 196-kilometre (122 mi) long border with theSoviet Union. To keep tensions from getting too high, Norway declared that noNATO exercises would take place in Finnmark.[15]
Map showing coastline and rivers. The largest river, slightly to the right, isTana, and slightly to the left isAlta-Kautokeino river. Down to the right islake Inari (Finland) from which goes thePasvik valley of thePasvikelva river. Near the far left corner of the map is the greenMålselv valley ofTroms, with theMålselva river.
Finnmark is Norway's northernmost and easternmost county (Svalbard is not considered a county). By area, Finnmark is Norway's second-largest county, even larger than the neighboring country ofDenmark. With a population of about 75,000, it is also the least populous Norwegian county. Finnmark has a total coastline of 6,844 kilometres (4,253 mi), including 3,155 kilometres (1,960 mi) of coastline on the islands. As of 2000, nearly 12,300 people, 16.6% of the county's population, lived in the 100-meter belt along the coastline.
The coast is indented by largefjords, some of which (in a strict sense) are false fjords, as they are not carved out by glaciers. Some of Norway's largestsea bird colonies are on the northern coast; the largest areHjelmsøystauran on the island ofHjelmsøya inMåsøy Municipality andGjesværstappan inNordkapp Municipality. The highest point is atop the glacierØksfjordjøkelen, which has an area of 45 square kilometres (17 sq mi), and is inLoppa Municipality. Both Øksfjordjøkelen andSeiland Glacier are in western Finnmark.
The Øksfjordplateau glaciercalved directly into the sea (Jøkelfjorden) until 1900, the last glacier in mainland Norway to do so. Finnmark's central and eastern parts are generally less mountainous, and have no glaciers. The land east of Nordkapp is mostly below 300 m (980 ft).
The nature varies from barren coastal areas facing theBarents Sea to more sheltered fjord areas and river valleys with gullies and tree vegetation. About half the county is above thetree line, and large parts of the other half is covered with smallDowny birch.
The lushest areas are theAlta area and theTana valleys, and in the east is the lowland area in thePasvik valley inSør-Varanger Municipality, where thepine andSiberianspruce forest is considered part of the Russiantaiga vegetation. This valley has the highest density ofBrown bears in Norway, and is the only place in the country with a population ofmuskrats, stemming from their introduction from their nativeNorth America into Europe in the early 20th century, which included their release in 293 localities all over Finland from 1919 onward, and then of about 1,000 muskrats on theKola Peninsula during 1931–36. The animal spread and the observations of first 'possible' muskrats in the riverAlta area inTroms were made around 1960, though the first actual specimen was not recovered until 1969, when a muskrat was captured alive inSmalfjord [no] inTana Municipality (Lund & Wikan 1995). In 1970, another specimen was collected fromJarfjorden inSør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark (Pedersen 1970). Between 1980 and 1988 there were 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.[16]Lynx andmoose are common in large parts of Finnmark, but rare on the coast.
The county's interior parts are part of the greatFinnmarksvidda plateau, with an elevation of 300 to 400 m (980 to 1,310 ft), with multiplelakes and river valleys. The plateau is famous for its tens of thousands of reindeer owned by the Sámi, and swarms of mosquitoes in midsummer. Finnmarksvidda makes up 36% of the county's area.Stabbursdalen National Park ensures protection for the world's northernmost Scots pine forest.
TheTana River, which partly defines the border withFinland, gives the largest catch of salmon of all rivers in Europe, and also has the world record forAtlantic salmon, 36 kg (79 lb). In the east, thePasvikelva defines the border withRussia.
TheFinnmarksvidda plateau in the interior of the county has acontinental climate with the coldest winter temperatures in Norway: the coldest temperature ever recorded was −51.4 °C (−60.5 °F) inKarasjok Municipality on 1 January 1886. The 24-hour averages for January and July at the same location are −17.1 °C (1.2 °F) and 13.1 °C (55.6 °F), the annual average is −2.4 °C (27.7 °F), and precipitation is only 366 millimetres (14.4 in) per year with summer as the wettest season.[17] Karasjok has recorded up to 32.4 °C (90.3 °F) in July, giving a possible year amplitude of 84 °C (151 °F) (rare inEurope). Finnmarksvidda has annual mean temperatures down to −3 °C (27 °F) (Sihcajavri inKautokeino Municipality), the coldest in mainland Norway (except for higher mountain areas) and even colder thanJan Mayen andBear 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),[18] 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 andLondon.[19]
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 analpine climate, and in the northeast this merges with the Arctictundra climate.
The climate in sheltered parts of fjord areas (particularly theAltafjorden) 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.
Situated north of theArctic Circle, Finnmark hasmidnight sun from the middle of May until late July. Conversely, in two months of the winter, from late November to late January, the county experiencespolar 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.
Finnmark is in theAurora Borealis zone, and because of the dry climate with frequent clear skies,Alta Municipality was early chosen as a location for study of the phenomenon. For this reason,Alta is sometimes called the city of the northern lights.
The oldStone AgeKomsa culture is 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.
In the 18th century and the 19th century, a number of Finnish-speakingimmigrants settled in Finnmark. Since 1996, they have had minority status asKven people. The town ofVadsø (Kven:Vesisaari) is often seen as the "Kven capital" in Finnmark.[23]
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 1990s, Russian immigrants and shoppers arrived in Kirkenes. Since the beginning of theEuropean migrant crisis a number of Syrian refugees arrived in Kirkenes via Russia.[24]
People have lived in Finnmark for at least 10,000 years (seeKomsa,Pit-Comb Ware culture andRock carvings at Alta). The destiny of these early cultures is unknown. Three ethnic groups have a long history in Finnmark: theSami people, theNorwegian people, and theKven people. Of these, the Sami probably were the first people to explore Finnmark.Ohthere of Hålogaland was an adventurous Norwegian (Norseman) fromHålogaland, the area roughly corresponding to today'sNordland county. Around 890 AD, he claimed, according to historical sources (seeOhthere 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 onKven people andVardøhus Fortress for more details.
Fisheries have traditionally been the most important way of living along the coast, where the majority of the Norwegian population live. Thered king crab, originally from the northernPacific Ocean but brought to the Barents sea by the Russians, have invaded from the east and are now being exploited commercially (especially in theVarangerfjord). To prevent the crab from spreading too far south, crab fishing west of Nordkapp is totally unregulated.
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 theironores along theKirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line was paused in 2015 and has not restarted as of 2022.[25]
Theslate industry in Alta is well known and have sold to customers as far away asJapan.
An irregular[26] procurement of a commuter boat [orferry ] in 2020, priced atNorwegian 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 ofStatoil's construction of the large land-basedLNG site on the island ofMelkøya,[27][28] which gets natural gas from theSnøhvit undersea gas field. A newoil field was discovered in 2009 just 45 km (28 mi) off shore,[29][30] close to the Snøhvit field.
There is optimism in the eastern part of the county, as the growingpetroleum activity in the Barents Sea is expected to generate increased economic activity on land as well.[31]
Until 2006,Statskog, the Norwegian state-owned agency responsible for the management of state owned forest and mountain real estate, owned about 95% of the land in Finnmark county. On 1 July 2006, theFinnmark Estate agency took over the ownership and management of that land in Finnmark. The Finnmark Estate was governed in tandem by theFinnmark County Municipality and theSami Parliament of Norway. The Sami Parliament of Norway is based in the village ofKarasjok.
^Zimmerman, Susan (November–December 2010). "Finnmark".World War II Magazine. Vol. 25, no. 4. p. 31.
^German, Robert K. (1982). "Norway and the Bear: Soviet Coercive Diplomacy and Norwegian Security Policy".International Security.7 (2): 70.doi:10.2307/2538433.JSTOR2538433.S2CID154321588.
^Danell, Kjell. (1996). Introductions of aquatic rodents: lessons of the muskrat Ondatra zibethicus invasion. Wildlife Biology. 2. 213–220. 10.2981/wlb.1996.021.
