Kvænangen
Encyclopedia
Kvænangen is a municipality
in Troms
county
, Norway
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord
. The European route E6
highway goes through the municipality and over the Sørstraumen Bridge
, and most people stop at the mountain pass of Kvænangsfjellet to view the fjord scenery.
. The initial population of Kvænangen was 1,677. On 1 January 1965, the Meiland area (population: 12) of Skjervøy was transferred to Kvænangen. On 1 January 1972, the uninhabited area of Mannskarvik was transferred from Skjervøy to Kvænanagen.
: Kven(a)angr). The first element is the plural
genitive case
of kven and the last element is angr which means "fjord". The district used to be mostly populated by Sámi
people.
s on a gray background.
origin, although the Kven population constitutes a sizeable minority. Archeological finds indicate nomad
ic activity in the area going back 10,000 years.
There is evidence that Kværnangen was the site for a transitional state between nomadic and agricultural society through what was known as "siida" - delimited areas where permanent housing was established and natural resources put under stewardship.
The Kvens settled in the area in the 18th century, occupying themselves with fishing
, hunting
, and agriculture
. Over time, fisheries became a primary industry, and the community exported dried fish to southern areas. Ethnic Norwegians gradually immigrated to facilitate trade and administration.
Norwegian public policy in the 1930s and post-war years homogenized the three groups, ethnic Norwegians, Sami, and Kven, considerably, to the point that most residents speak Norwegian at home, regardless of their ethnic heritage. Interestingly, a majority of people in Kvænangen declared themselves Sami or Kven in the 1930 census. In the 1950 census, all but a handful declared themselves Norwegian.
During the Nazi occupation
during World War II
, a temporary work camp
was established at Kvænangen. In large part due to the generosity of the local population, prisoners had ample food. As the German Wehrmacht
retreated in early 1945, the population was evacuated by force, and all buildings were burned. Today, a local museum shows typical reconstruction houses.
. There are mature pine
forest
s in the valley at the head of the fjord
, and there are several river
s, the largest of which is Kvænangselva, which is traditionally a good salmon
-fishing river.
The Øksfjordjøkelen
glacier is located in the northern part of the municipality on the border with Loppa
. It's the ninth largest glacier
in mainland Norway. The lake Šuoikkatjávri
is located in the southern part of the municipality on the border with Kautokeino
.
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
county
Counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord
Burfjord
Burfjord is a village and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kvænangen in Troms county, Norway. It is home to the municipal council of Kvænangen. The population of Burfjord area was 397....
. The European route E6
European route E6
European route E 6 is the designation for the main north-south road in Norway, and the west coast of Sweden, running from the southern tip of Sweden, at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the country north to Finnmark. The route ends close to the Norwegian border with Russia...
highway goes through the municipality and over the Sørstraumen Bridge
Sørstraumen Bridge
Sørstraumen Bridge is a cantilever bridge that crosses the Sørstraumen in the inner part of the fjord Kvænangen in Troms county in Norway. The bridge is long, and the main span is .-See also:*List of bridges in Norway*List of bridges in Norway by length...
, and most people stop at the mountain pass of Kvænangsfjellet to view the fjord scenery.
General information
Kvænangen was established in 1863 when it was separated from the municipality of SkjervøySkjervøy
Skjervøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjervøy on the island of Skjervøya, where most of the inhabitants live. The main industries are fishing and ship building....
. The initial population of Kvænangen was 1,677. On 1 January 1965, the Meiland area (population: 12) of Skjervøy was transferred to Kvænangen. On 1 January 1972, the uninhabited area of Mannskarvik was transferred from Skjervøy to Kvænanagen.
Name
The municipality is named after the Kvænangen fjord (Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: Kven(a)angr). The first element is the plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
of kven and the last element is angr which means "fjord". The district used to be mostly populated by Sámi
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
people.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1990). The arms show three blue harebellHarebell
Campanula rotundifolia is a rhizomatous perennial flowering plant in the bellflower family native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.In Scotland, it is often known as the Bluebell...
s on a gray background.
History
The municipality surrounds the fjord of Kvænangen, after which it is named. The population is primarily of SamiSami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
origin, although the Kven population constitutes a sizeable minority. Archeological finds indicate nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic activity in the area going back 10,000 years.
There is evidence that Kværnangen was the site for a transitional state between nomadic and agricultural society through what was known as "siida" - delimited areas where permanent housing was established and natural resources put under stewardship.
The Kvens settled in the area in the 18th century, occupying themselves with fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Over time, fisheries became a primary industry, and the community exported dried fish to southern areas. Ethnic Norwegians gradually immigrated to facilitate trade and administration.
Norwegian public policy in the 1930s and post-war years homogenized the three groups, ethnic Norwegians, Sami, and Kven, considerably, to the point that most residents speak Norwegian at home, regardless of their ethnic heritage. Interestingly, a majority of people in Kvænangen declared themselves Sami or Kven in the 1930 census. In the 1950 census, all but a handful declared themselves Norwegian.
During the Nazi occupation
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a temporary work camp
Kvænangen concentration camp
Kvænangen concentration camp was established in the municipality of Kvænangen in Northern Norway by the Nazi administration of occupied Norway in August 1942, as annex to Grini. It consisted of two subcamps, Veidal and Badderen, which was also known as Veiskaret...
was established at Kvænangen. In large part due to the generosity of the local population, prisoners had ample food. As the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
retreated in early 1945, the population was evacuated by force, and all buildings were burned. Today, a local museum shows typical reconstruction houses.
Geography
The municipality has coastal and plains geography, extending into FinnmarksviddaFinnmarksvidda
Finnmarksvidda or the Finnmark plateau; Finnmark highland, is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than 22,000 km². It lies at 300–500 meters above sea level...
. There are mature pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s in the valley at the head of the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
, and there are several river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s, the largest of which is Kvænangselva, which is traditionally a good salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
-fishing river.
The Øksfjordjøkelen
Øksfjordjøkelen
Øksfjordjøkelen is the ninth largest glacier in mainland Norway.The highest point, elevation , on the glacier is also the highest point in Finnmark county. Its lowest point has an elevation of . The village of Alteidet in Kvænangen is located nearby, along the European route E6....
glacier is located in the northern part of the municipality on the border with Loppa
Loppa
Loppa is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Øksfjord. Loppa was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
. It's the ninth largest glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
in mainland Norway. The lake Šuoikkatjávri
Šuoikkatjávri
Šuoikkatjávri is a lake in the municipalities of Kvænangen in Troms county and Kautokeino-Guovdageaidnu in Finnmark county, Norway. The somewhat S-shaped lake is about long and is only about wide.-References:...
is located in the southern part of the municipality on the border with Kautokeino
Kautokeino
or Guovdageaidnu , is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino...
.
External links
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics NorwayStatistics NorwayStatistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...