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Kvænangen is a municipality
Municipalities of Norway

||}Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called county , and 430 municipality . The capital city Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality....
 in Troms
Troms

or Romsa is a Counties of Norway in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten L?n in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland....
 county
Counties of Norway

||-||}Norway is divided into 19 subnational, called county . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 Municipalities of Norway ....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord
Burfjord

Burfjord is the capital village of Kv?nangen municipality in Norway, housing the municipal council. Burfjord lies on the northern border of Troms County, along the busy E6 roadway winding its way through this part of northern Norway....
. Kvænangen was separated from the municipality of Skjervøy
Skjervøy

Skjerv?y is a Municipalities of Norway in Troms Counties of Norway, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjerv?y, where most of the inhabitants live....
 in 1863.

The municipality has coastal and plains geography, extending into Finnmarksvidda
Finnmarksvidda

Finnmarksvidda is Norway's largest mountain plateau, with an area greater than 22,000 km?. It lies at 300-500 meters above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark county lies in the Finnmarksvidda....
. There are mature pine
Scots Pine

The Scots Pine is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Ireland, Great Britain and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as S?pmi ....
 forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
s in the valley at the head of the fjord
Fjord

Geologically, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by Glacier....
, and there are several river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, the largest of which is Kvænangselva, which is traditionally a good salmon
Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout,the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, this holds true for the Atlantic salmon....
-fishing river.

municipality is named after the Kvænangen fjord (Old Norse
Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic languages that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: Kven(a)angr).






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Kvænangen is a municipality
Municipalities of Norway

||}Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called county , and 430 municipality . The capital city Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality....
 in Troms
Troms

or Romsa is a Counties of Norway in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten L?n in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland....
 county
Counties of Norway

||-||}Norway is divided into 19 subnational, called county . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 Municipalities of Norway ....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord
Burfjord

Burfjord is the capital village of Kv?nangen municipality in Norway, housing the municipal council. Burfjord lies on the northern border of Troms County, along the busy E6 roadway winding its way through this part of northern Norway....
. Kvænangen was separated from the municipality of Skjervøy
Skjervøy

Skjerv?y is a Municipalities of Norway in Troms Counties of Norway, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjerv?y, where most of the inhabitants live....
 in 1863.

The municipality has coastal and plains geography, extending into Finnmarksvidda
Finnmarksvidda

Finnmarksvidda is Norway's largest mountain plateau, with an area greater than 22,000 km?. It lies at 300-500 meters above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark county lies in the Finnmarksvidda....
. There are mature pine
Scots Pine

The Scots Pine is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Ireland, Great Britain and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as S?pmi ....
 forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
s in the valley at the head of the fjord
Fjord

Geologically, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by Glacier....
, and there are several river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, the largest of which is Kvænangselva, which is traditionally a good salmon
Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout,the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, this holds true for the Atlantic salmon....
-fishing river.

General information


Name

The municipality is named after the Kvænangen fjord (Old Norse
Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic languages 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

Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers....
 genitive case
Genitive case

In grammar, the genitive case or possessive case is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun. It often marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun but it can also indicate various relationships other than possession; certain verbs may take argument in the genitive case; and it may have adverbial uses ....
 of kven and the last element is angr which means "fjord". The district used to be mostly populated by Sámi
Sami people

The S?mi people, are the indigenous people Indigenous peoples of Europe inhabiting S?pmi , which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia....
 people.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1990). The arms show three blue harebell
Harebell

The Harebell is a short to medium, slender, hairless, rhizomatous Perennial plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. In Scotland, it is often known as the Bluebell, whereas elsewhere in Britain, "Common Bluebell" refers to Hyacinthoides non-scriptus....
s on a gray background.

History

The municipality surrounds the fjord of Kvænangen, after which it is named. The population is primarily of Sami
Sami people

The S?mi people, are the indigenous people Indigenous peoples of Europe inhabiting S?pmi , which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia....
 origin, although the Kven
Kven

Kvens are a Norwegian ethnic minority descended from Finnish people peasants and fishermen who emigrated from the northern parts of Finland and Sweden to Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries....
 population constitutes a sizeable minority. Archeological finds indicate nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
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 1700s, occupying themselves with fishing
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
, hunting
Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals 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 law....
, and agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
. 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

Starting with the Operation Weser?bung of April 9, 1940, Norway was under military occupation of Germany forces and civil rule of a German commissioner in collaboration with a Nasjonal Samling....
 during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, a temporary work camp
Kvænangen concentration camp

Kv?nangen Nazi concentration camps in Norway was established in the municipalities of Norway of Kv?nangen in Northern Norway by the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany in August 1942, as annex to Grini....
 was established at Kvænangen. In large part due to the generosity of the local population, prisoners had ample food.

As the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
 retreated in early 1945, the population was evacuated by force, and all buildings were burned. Today, a local museum shows typical reconstruction houses. The European route E6
European route E6

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....
 highway goes through the municipality, and most people stop at the mountain pass of Kvænangsfjellet to view the fantastic fjord vista.

External links