Nordkinn Peninsula
Encyclopedia
Nordkinn Peninsula is a peninsula in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

, in northern 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...

. Settlement is mostly concentrated on the northern shores and at the base of the peninsula. The main towns are Mehamn
Mehamn
Mehamn is a village in the Gamvik municipality in the county of Finnmark in northern Norway. The village abuts the base of a small Vedvik peninsula, itself part of the greater Nordkinn Peninsula, at the southern end of Mehamn Fjord, a bay in the Barents Sea...

, Gamvik
Gamvik
is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mehamn. The municipality of Gamvik was separated from Tana on 1 July 1913....

 and Kjøllefjord
Kjøllefjord
Kjøllefjord is the largest village in the northwestern part of Nordkinn Peninsula in the municipality of Lebesby, Norway, located on the shore of a small fjord of the same name, which empties into Laksefjord....

. The Slettnes lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 near Gamvik is the northernmost lighthouse in mainland Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Geography

The highest point is Storvarden (486m) in the Sandfjellet massif. The northernmost point on the peninsula is the Kinnarodden cliff, being also the northernmost point of mainland Norway and Europe.

To the east the peninsula is bounded by the Tanafjord
Tanafjord
Tanafjord or Tanafjorden is a fjord in Finnmark, Norway. Its orientation is mainly north-south, spanning approximately 66 kilometres from the Smalfjord settlement in the south to Barents Sea in the north. The fjord separates the Nordkinn Peninsula in the west from the Varanger Peninsula in the...

, which separates it from Varanger Peninsula
Varanger Peninsula
Varanger Peninsula is a peninsula in Finnmark, north-eastern Norway, by the Barents Sea. The peninsula has the Tanafjord to the west, the Varangerfjord to the south and the Barents Sea to the north and east. Vadsø, Båtsfjord, Berlevåg, Vardø and Unjárga - Nesseby are the municipalities sharing the...

. To the west it is bounded by the Laksefjord
Laksefjord
Laksefjord or Laksefjorden is a fjord in the municipality of Lebesby, Finnmark, Norway. It is the third longest in Finnmark after Porsangen and the Varangerfjord, being 72 km long....

 separating it from the uninhabited Sværholt Peninsula
Sværholthalvøya
Sværholthalvøya is a peninsula in the Norwegian county of Finnmark....

. In the north the waters of Laksefjord join with those of Porsanger Fjord
Porsangerfjorden
Porsangerfjorden, Porsangerfjord or Porsangen is a fjord in Finnmark, Norway. It is long, and is Norway's fourth longest fjord.The town of Lakselv is situated at the innermost part of the fjord.-References:...

, emptying into the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...

.

Transport

Regional route 888 connects Gamvik, Mehamn, and Lebesby to 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...

 at the base of the peninsula, and thence to Kirkenes
Kirkenes
is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...

 in the east and Alta
Alta, Norway
-Birdlife:For those interested in bird watching, the river outlet, known locally as Altaosen is well worth a visit. This tidal area is used as a stopover for many wetland species.-Transportation:...

 in the west. The Hurtigruten
Hurtigruten
Hurtigruten or Hurtigruta is a Norwegian passenger and freight line with daily sailings along Norway's western and northern coast. Sometimes referred to in English as Norwegian Coastal Express, Hurtigruten ships sail almost the entire length of the country, completing the roundtrip journey in 11...

 coastal ship stops in Mehamn and Kjøllefjord.

Mehamn is also connected by air via Mehamn Airport
Mehamn Airport
Mehamn Airport is a regional airport serving Mehamn in Finnmark, Norway. In 2005 Mehamn Airport had 10,895 passengers and is currently operated by Avinor...

, with services by Widerøe
Widerøe
Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a regional airline in Norway and part of the SAS Group. It operates a fleet of 34 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft , serving 41 domestic and 6 international destinations...

.
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