Nord-Norge
Nord-Norge or
Nord-Noreg (
Norwegian for
North Norway) is the name of the geographical
region of northern
Norway, consisting of the three counties
Nordland,
Troms and
Finnmark. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to north) are:
Mosjøen,
Mo i Rana,
Bodø,
Narvik,
Harstad,
Tromsø,
Alta,
Hammerfest.
Inhabitants (2002): 462,908
The oldest culture in the area is called Komsa, named after a mountain in
Alta. The first people possibly came around 12-13,000 years ago, but it is uncertain as whether they came from southern Norway or from the
Russian Peninsula. Today the
rock carvings at
Hjemmeluft in Alta or at
Leknes in Nordland are among the remainders of the Stone Age cultures, showing reindeer swimming across the fjords. A significant find area is between the river
Tana and the fjord of
Varanger, where the reindeer probably ran over the isthmus on the way between the winter and summer grazing. However, we do not know the ethnic identity of the Stone Age cultures. Metals were introduced around 500 BC or possibly somewhat earlier (
).
The oldest culture present today is the
Sami culture, that we can trace back at least 2,000 years. They were accompanied by people of Germanic origin around 200-300 AD, that settled along the coasts roughly up to Tromsø. The two ethnic groups traded with each other, and there seems to have been quite a lot of intermarriage. The nature of the co-existence is still being hotly debated.
In the Viking age, several chieftains along the coast played a significant role in Norwegian history, usually resisting unification of Norway. Among the well know you find
Hårek from Tjøtta and
Tore Hund, who killed
Saint Olav at the
Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. The chieftain and poet
Øyvind Skaldespiller was the first to receive international acclaim, as his poems were rewarded when the
Icelandic parliament organized a money collection to buy him a thick ring of gold. This flourishing period of resistance was followed by a take-over from the south, reducing the might and wealth of the chieftains.
In the middle ages, churches were built along the coast. By 1150,
Lenvik was the northernmost, in
1252 the first church was built in
Tromsø, adding it to Norway. Finally in
1307 the Vardø church was built, clearly stating that this was part of Norway. This was accompanied by the building of a fortress. At roughly the same time, the cod fishing gained momentum. Dried cod was exported through
Bergen to the whole
Hanseatic world, bringing prosperity to the north. This is reflected in the numerous pieces of imported church art from the late middle ages. There were numerous wars with the republic of
Novgorod in Russia at the time, that stopped by the late 15th century.
Reduced fish prices in the 17th century lead to a significant decline in the population. Large coastal areas were depopulated, and Sami culture made a comeback, as it was less dependent on fish exports. After 1700, the Russians started to come every summer on trading expeditions, bringing rye in exchange for fish. In the 1740s the first settlers from Finland, escaping hunger and war, came. In
1789, the trade monopoly of the city of
Bergen was lifted, and
Hammerfest and
Vardø were issued their city charters, and
Tromsø followed suit in 1794. Interrupted by the British blockade of the Napoleonic wars, this introduced a period of unprecedented growth in the north.
Bodø was founded in
1816, and
Vadsø in
1833. The
Hurtigruten shipping line, introduced in
1893, gave quicker communications with the south. In
1906, the iron mines in
Kirkenes opened.
At the same time, the ethnic diversity of the area came under threat. All the progress within fishing and agriculture was introduced by Norwegians, making
Sami and
Finnish ways less attractive. In schools, only Norwegian was promoted, and from around 1900, the Norwegian authorities were very insistent that all should speak Norwegian only. From now on, the Sami language was not used in schools, churches and in public administration. Settlers on state lands in Finnmark had to prove they could speak Norwegian before they were allowed to settle.
This region of Norway was the area most affected by
World War II. In 1940, the Allies and the Germans fought over the strategic port for iron exports of
Narvik.
King Haakon VII and the government fled towards the north, and stayed in the Tromsø area for three weeks. On May 27,
Bodø was bombed by German planes, and on June 7, the Allies retreated from the North, forcing the King and government to flee to Britain from Tromsø.
In 1944, the German Wehrmacht started to retreat from the
Murmansk front. They burned everything after them in the area between the Russian border and the
Lyngen fjord, as part of their tactics. The population was forcibly evacuated, although a third of them chose to hide in the wilderness instead. All who were found where shot.
After WWII, reconstruction was on the agenda. Norway made a huge effort to rebuild the destroyed towns and villages. Also modernizing fishing and agriculture was important, as Northern Norway was considerably poorer and less developed than the south. In
1946 the huge steel works of
Mo i Rana were founded, heralding industrialization of the north.
Communications were also improved, as airports were built throughout the area, notably in Bodø
1952 and Tromsø in
1964. The train network was extended to reach
Bodø in
1961. In 1972, the
University of Tromsø opened, accompanied by a number of colleges, notably in
Bodø,
Alta,
Harstad and
Narvik. In 1972 and 1994, the strong anti-EU movements of the north were instrumental when Norway voted against EU membership in referendums.
The tide has also turned for the
Sami population of the north. Sami-language instruction was introduced in schools in the 1970s. In
1979, the building of a hydro-electric dam in
Alta caused huge demonstrations, giving the Sami question national attention for virtually the first time. The result was a significant effort by the authorities to promote
Sami language and culture. In 1989, the Sami parliament,
Samediggi, opened, and the Law of Finnmark of
2005 dealt with the land question.
Working against all this, emigration to the south has been strong after World War II, and today Oslo is Norway's biggest city. The population is slowly declining in the north, although the regional centres of
Bodø,
Tromsø and
Alta continue to grow. Lately, the off-shore gas field of
Snøhvit, off
Hammerfest, has brought hopes of new development in the north, and the population of the north hopes that oil and gas might give new optimism.
The region is tri-cultural, housing not just
Norwegians but also the
indigenous Sami and Norwegian
Finns (known as
Kvens) and
Russian populations. The
Norwegian language today dominates in most of the area, Sami inhabitants are mainly found in the inner parts of Finnmark, some of the Fjord areas of Finnmark and then in smaller groups in the inland all the way down. Finnish is today spoken in only a few communities in the east of Finnmark.
The Northern Norwegian dialects share a common, musical intonation, different from the southern dialects of Norway. Apart from this, there is great variation in sound system, grammar and vocabulary. In general, one can say that the southernmost of the northern dialects, particularly in Helgeland and Salten, are the most distinct. Notably they cut grammar endings (like French relative to Italian). Further north, the dialects are somewhat more in line with standard Norwegian (
Bokmål). In some inland valleys in the county of
Troms, settlers from the inland of Southern Norway immigrated 200 years ago. Even today, these dialects have southern characteristics in intonation and vocabulary.
Earlier, Northern dialects had a low status in Norway, but recently they have been used extensively in song lyrics, poetry, in TV and radio. Today, anyone from fishermen to university professors via insurance agents use their dialects even at work.
Sami is spoken in three main dialects: Southern Sami south of the Arctic Circle, Lule Sami mainly between Bodø and Narvik, and Northern Sami in the rest. Originally, Pite Sami and Ume Sami was spoken around Bodø, but these dialects are now extinct on the Norwegian side of the border. Eastern Sami was originally spoken in Neiden, close to
Kirkenes, but it is more or less extinct. Sami is an official language (in addition to Norwegian) in the municipalities of
Kåfjord,
Kautokeino,
Karasjok,
Porsanger,
Tana and
Nesseby.
The Finnish spoken in western regions, from
Storfjord to Porsanger, is quite distinct, although comprehensible for people from Finland. Further east, around
Vadsø and
Kirkenes, the spoken Finnish resembles standard Finnish. Finnish is official in addition to Sami and Norwegian in
Porsanger municipality.
Northern Norway is surrounded by some of the richest seas in the world, and sea products constitute the main food source for traditional cuisine. In the winter, the codfish comes to the coastal waters to spawn.
Mølja, boiled codfish with liver and roe, is a rich delicacy that today is served in the best restaurants. In the summer, the
colefish, or
saithe, bites, and fresh saithe is often served on the beach, boiled in seawater over an open fire.
Halibut is traditional Christmas food. Most fish is served plainly poached, so that the delicate fish taste is not ruined; only accompanied by boiled potatoes, carrots and possibly fried bacon. A more particular kind of fish is "gammelsei",
saithe that has been conserved for a year or more.
Tender
whale meat is usually served as steaks, whereas seals are an acquired taste, due to the smell. However, when processed into "Barents ham", it gets more palatable. Fresh seal meat is served at the end of the hunting season in spring, and Tromsø is the place to look for it. Reindeer are often served as
finnebiff, thin slices in a cream sauce.
Traditionally, northerners regarded
shellfish and
prawns as bait, but lately they have developed a taste for it, and the freshest and most succulent prawns and shellfish are easily obtainable all along the coast.
Northern Norway covers about a third of Norway. The southernmost part, roughly the part south of the Arctic Circle, is called
Helgeland. Here there is a multitude of islands and skerries on the outside of the coastal range, some flat, some with particular shapes,like Mount
Torghatten, which has a whole right through it. The inland is covered with dense spruce forests and rounded mountains on the Swedish border, the biggest rivers are the
Vefsna and the
Rana.
The majestic
Saltfjellet range divides it from the next region, called
Salten. Here you find the big glacier of
Svartisen. Salten has some majestic peaks, notably the Børvasstindan south of
Bodø, the
Okstindan on the Swedish border, and the Steigartindan, the phallic Hamarøytinden and the most spectacular of them all, Stetinden, that looms over the
Tysfjord.
 |
View of Lofotveggen - "The Lofotenwall". The view is from one of the peaks just outside Bodø. It is even more beautiful with the midnight sun over the peaks of Lofoten |
Lofoten is a chain of majestic peaks that jut out of the ocean. From the mainland side it looks very barren, but behind the violet-black peaks there are also flatlands with good grazing for sheep. The
Vesterålen islands consist of smaller and bigger islands with a huge variation of landscape.
Ofoten, further inland, is a fjord landscape with high mountains.
Troms county has surprising greenery for the latitude, and the inner waterways and fjords are lined with birch forests, and further inland there are pine forests and highlands around the rivers
Målselv and
Reisa. Big islands like
Senja,
Kvaløya and
Ringvassøya have a green, forested interiors and a barren, mountainous coastline, with smaller islands offshore. The
Lyngen Alps are the highest mountains of the area, rising to 1833 metres, an area of glaciers and waterfalls. The waterfall of
Mollisfossen in
Nordreisa, at 269 metres, is the highest waterfall in the north.
Finnmark county has fjords and glaciers in the far southwest, and the north-western coasts are characterized by big islands, like
Sørøya and
Seiland. The inland is covered by
Finnmarksvidda a plateau about 3-400 metres high, with bush vegetation and the rivers of Alta-Kautokeino and
Tana/Deatnu. Even at this latitude, pockets of pine forests manage to survive, notably in
Alta,
Karasjok,
Porsanger and
Sør-Varanger. East of Honningsvåg, there are no islands protecting the barren coasts that rise directly up from the sea. The landscape towards the Russian border is comparatively flat. The
North Cape on the island of
Magerøya marks the northern end of Europe, whereas
Kinnarodden on the
Nordkyn peninsula is the northernmost point of Europe's mainland.
There are large climatic differences from southwest to northeast in this region.
Finnmarksvidda in the interior of Finnmark and some valleys in the interior of Troms, experiences a more dry, continental climate with much colder winters compared to the coastal regions.
Brønnøysund in the southern part of Nordland have January and February averages of -1°C and -0.6°C (31°F), July & August 24-hr averages are both 13°C (56°F), year average is 5.6°C (42°F; about the same as in Oslo), and precipitation is 1510 mm/year, with autumn as the wettest season (
).
Karasjok in the eastern part of Finnmarksvidda have January and February averages of -17°C (1°F) and -15°C (4°F), July & August averages are 13°C (56°F) and 11°C (52°F), year average is -2.4°C (28°F) and precipitation is only 366 mm/year (
).
The mean annual temperature difference between Brønnøysund and Karasjok is 8°C (15°F), about the same as the difference between Brønnøysund and
Madrid (
), Spain.
The mild
maritime climate dominates along the coast and in the large fjords, even at the most northern coastal locations; in
Nordkapp municipality the average January temperature is a modest -4°C (26°F) and the year average is 2°C (35°F) (
). Some islands, like
Træna and
Røst, have average temperatures of approximately 1°C (33°F) in their coldest months.
The extreme northeastern coast, from Nordkapp to
Vardø, is situated in the arctic climate zone due to lack of summer warmth - July average in Vardø is only 9°C (48°F). However, 150 km to the south, in the Pasvik valley south of
Kirkenes, July 24-hr average is up to 14°C (57°F). No other parts of Norway experiences so large differences in lowland summer temperatures in such a relatively short distance.
The length of the season varies from south to north; summer (days/year when 24-hr average temperature is 10°C or more; 50°F) is 108 days in Brønnøysund, just over 80 days in Lofoten and Narvik, 60 days in Tromsø and Kirkenes, and 0 days in Vardø. The growing season varies from 180 days at
Vega, Brønnøysund and
Røst to less than 120 days in Finnmarksvidda and the
Varanger Peninsula.
The coldest temperature recorded is -51.4°C (-61°F) in Karasjok, and the warmest recorded is 34.3°C (94°F) in Sihcajavri in
Kautokeino.
Sources:
*Bjørbæk, G. 2003.
Norsk vær i 110 år. N.W. DAMM & Sønn.
*Moen, A. 1998.
Nasjonalatlas for Norge: Vegetasjon. Statens Kartverk, Hønefoss.
*Norwegian Meteorological Institute (
).
 |
Efjord in Ofoten, south of Narvik. July 2003. |
*
Knut Hamsun -
Nobel prize laureate and writer, from
Hamarøy*
Röyksopp - Techno band, from
Tromsø*
Lene Marlin - Singer songwriter, from
Tromsø*
Tungtvann - Rappers, from
Ørnes*
Mari Boine -
Jazz artist, from
Karasjok*
Geir Lundestad - Director of the Nobel Institute and Professor of History at the
University of Oslo, from
Bodø*
Regional development in the Nordic Countries: Presenting North Norway*
norwayonline: North Norway*
Tromsø Museum: Iron age boat construction in North Norway
