at 70° 58' N, in
NordkappNordkapp is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Honningsvåg.Nordkapp was separated from Porsanger on 1 July 1861...
municipality, claims to be the
northernmost cityThis is a list of the northernmost cities and towns in the world.Norternmost urban areas, without city/town status, with more than 2000 inhabitants.-Larger cities:Northernmost cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants....
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
and even in the world. Legislation effective from 1997 states that a Norwegian city must have 5,000 inhabitants, but Honningsvåg with its population of 2,575 was declared a city in 1996. It is situated at a bay on the southern side of
MagerøyaMagerøya is an island in Finnmark county in the extreme north of Norway, in the community of Nordkapp. The island features a bleak, barren tundra-landscape devoid of any trees , with steep cliff faces on the coast and dramatic mountainscapes in the interior. It has an area of...
island, while the famous
North CapeNorth Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in northern Norway, in the municipality of Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at , 2102.3 km from the North Pole. However, the neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually 1,457...
and its visitors center is on the northern side. It is a port of call for cruise ships, especially in the summer months.
at 70° 58' N, in
NordkappNordkapp is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Honningsvåg.Nordkapp was separated from Porsanger on 1 July 1861...
municipality, claims to be the
northernmost cityThis is a list of the northernmost cities and towns in the world.Norternmost urban areas, without city/town status, with more than 2000 inhabitants.-Larger cities:Northernmost cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants....
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
and even in the world. Legislation effective from 1997 states that a Norwegian city must have 5,000 inhabitants, but Honningsvåg with its population of 2,575 was declared a city in 1996. It is situated at a bay on the southern side of
MagerøyaMagerøya is an island in Finnmark county in the extreme north of Norway, in the community of Nordkapp. The island features a bleak, barren tundra-landscape devoid of any trees , with steep cliff faces on the coast and dramatic mountainscapes in the interior. It has an area of...
island, while the famous
North CapeNorth Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in northern Norway, in the municipality of Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at , 2102.3 km from the North Pole. However, the neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually 1,457...
and its visitors center is on the northern side. It is a port of call for cruise ships, especially in the summer months.
Honningsvåg Airport, ValanHonningsvåg Airport, Valan is a regional airport in Nordkapp municipality in Finnmark, Norway. It mainly serves the city of Honningsvåg, but also Nordvågen, Kamøyvær, Gjesvær, and Skarsvåg. It was opened in 1977 and had 35 789 passengers in 2005. Honningsvåg Airport, Valan is also the nearest...
is located 4 km outside the town, with flights to mainly
Tromsøis a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø....
.
People have lived in this area as far back as 10,300 years ago. The sea was probably the main food supplier for this prehistoric settlement. Indeed, the ice-free ocean (southwestern part of the
Barents SeaThe Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and...
) provides rich fisheries even today, and tourism is also important. And, due to the proximity of the temperate sea water, winter temperatures in Honningsvåg are much milder than one would expect at this
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
(January 24-hr average is -4°C). Even at 71°N, many private gardens in Honningsvåg have
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, although rarely more than 4 m tall.
HurtigrutenHurtigruten or Hurtigruta is a Norwegian passenger and freight line with daily sailings along Norway's spectacular western and northern coast. Ships sail almost the entire length of the country, completing the roundtrip journey in 11 days...
has one of its main stops in Honningsvåg on its lengthy route along the Norwegian coast from Kirkenes in the north to Bergen the south. From 11:45 am to 03:15 pm the ships dock in the port of Honningsvåg, generating heavy tourist activity in the city.
The famous dog
BamseBamse was a St. Bernard that became the heroic mascot of the Free Norwegian Forces during the Second World War. He became a symbol of Norwegian freedom during the war.-Pre-war life:...
came from Honningsvåg.
The city status
The status of Honningsvåg as a city is a point of contention between the inhabitants of Honningsvåg and
Hammerfestis a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
which many foreigners may find strange, given the small size of both of these places. In Norwegian the word 'by' can mean both
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
and
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
and Norwegian does not distinguish between the terms in the same way as English or other languages do. The translation of the word into English is thus ambiguous and can be chosen as one sees fit. If both
Hammerfestis a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
and Honningsvåg were to be defined according to British tradition, neither of them would be considered cities, as neither has a university or a cathedral. Both of them would, however, be considered
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
s, given the status of both settlements as economic hubs of the surrounding areas and the status as municipal centers.
The name
The
NorseOld 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....
form of the name was probably
*Hornungsvágr. The first element is then the genitive case of a disappeared name of a mountain:
*Hornungr. This (hypothetical) name could have been an older name of the mountain Storefjell (literally just 'big mountain' - a tall and hornlike mountaintop near Honningsvåg), and it is then derived from the word
horn n 'horn'. The last element is
vágr m 'bay'. The full meaning of the name is then 'the bay lying beneath the mountain
*Hornungr.
External links