North Cape, Norway
For other uses, see North Cape. |
Midnight sun at the North Cape |
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Midnight sun and clouds at the North Cape |
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North Cape (foreground), Knivskjellodden (background) |
North Cape is a
cape on the island of
Magerøya in northern
Norway, in the community of
Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of
Europe, located at . However, the neighbouring point
Knivskjellodden is actually some 1,500 metres further north. Moreover, both of these points are situated on an island, which means the northernmost point of mainland Europe is in fact
Cape Nordkinn (
Kinnarodden).
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Map of North Cape, Knivskjellodden and Kinnarodden |
The North Cape was named by
English explorer
Richard Chancellor in
1553 when he passed the cape in the search for a
Northeast passage. From then on, it was occasionally visited by daring explorers who climbed the steep cliff face to the plateau; famous visitors include King
Oscar II of Norway in
1873 and
Thailand's King
Chulalongkorn in
1907. Today, the North Cape is a major tourist attraction with an extensive (and expensive) tourist centre that houses a number of exhibits on the Cape's history.
In
1943, the
battle of North Cape was fought in the Arctic Ocean off this cape.
