Nordkapp

This article is about the municipality in Finnmark, Norway. For the North Cape (Norwegian: Nordkapp), see North Cape, Norway.

Nordkapp kommune
—  Municipality  —
Honningsvåg harbour
Coat of arms Finnmark within Norway
Nordkapp within Finnmark
Coordinates: 71°1′8″N 25°47′50″E / 71.01889°N 25.79722°E / 71.01889; 25.79722Coordinates: 71°1′8″N 25°47′50″E / 71.01889°N 25.79722°E / 71.01889; 25.79722
Country	Norway
County	Finnmark
Administrative centre	Honningsvåg
Government
- Mayor (2007)	Kristina Hansen (Ap)
Area
- Total	925 km2 (357.1 sq mi)
- Land	891 km2 (344 sq mi)
Population (2011)
- Total	3,224
- Density	3.4/km2 (8.8/sq mi)
Demonym	Nordkappværing[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-2019
Official language form	Neutral
Website	nordkapp.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Nordkapp (or North Cape in English) (Northern Sami: Davvinjárgga gielda and Kven: Kappan komuuni) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Honningsvåg.

Nordkapp (originally named Kjelvik) was separated from Porsanger on 1 July 1861. The western part of the island of Magerøya was transferred from the municipality of Måsøy to Nordkapp on 1 January 1984.

General information

Nordkapp and Knivskjellodden

Name

Nordkapp is a Norwegianized form of the English name North Cape from 1553 (the Old Norse name of the cape was Knyskanes). The original name of the municipality was Kjelvik, after a fishing village with the same name. But the village was totally destroyed by the Germans in 1944 and it never recovered. As a consequence of this the municipality changed the name to Nordkapp in 1950.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 October 1973. The arms show simplified the North Cape, which is a large cliff. The arms thus show the sea and the cliff under a golden sky representing the midnight sun.^[2]

Location and history

Nordkapp and adjacent areas

The midnight sun

The municipality encompasses mainly the island of Magerøya, but also parts of the mainland east and west of the fjord of Porsanger.

Most of the inhabitants live in the town of Honningsvåg, but Nordvågen, Kamøyvær, Skarsvåg and Gjesvær are also important places.

The municipality's most famous point, after which it is named, is Nordkapp (North Cape). This 307 metres (1,007 ft) high cliff is usually referred to as the northernmost point of Europe. It is however not Europe's northernmost point, not by any definition. The northernmost point of the European mainland is Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden), at 71° 08′ 02″ North and 20 km from the village of Mehamn on Nordkinn Peninsula. And if Europe's northernmost point is allowed to be on an island it is Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia, which is located very much further north at 81° 48′ 24″ North. And if Franz Josef Land is considered not to be in Europe, then Europe's northernmost point is the northern point of Rossøya, an islet north of Spitsbergen at 80° 49′ 44.41″ North.).

Some 200,000 tourists annually visit Nordkapp, during the two to three months of summer. The North Cape first became famous when the English explorer Richard Chancellor rounded it in 1553 while attempting to find a sea route through the Northeast Passage.

Birdlife

This coastal municipality is like many others in Finnmark, home of large seabird colonies. The island group known as Gjesværstappan is one of the better known with at least 2,500 pairs of Razorbill. Away from the coast it is the typical tundra habitat of the region that dominates with lakes, marshes, and areas of Willow Scrub. Many of the lakes hold breeding wildfowl, with species like Long-tailed Duck being found.

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/n/nordkapp.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 

View towards Gjesværstappan islands with sea bird colonies

External links

• http://www.minitothearctic.com Over 5000 mile drive from England to Nordkapp and back in aid of Leukaemia Research, September 2008
• http://www.northcape.tv Pictures from North Cape and Skarsvåg
• http://www.northwayup.co.uk/ Motorcycle ride from England to Nordkapp in aid of Cancer Research. 5000 miles in 10 days! June 2008
• http://www.nk05.eu/home_eng.html Motorbike travel from Italy to Nordkapp
• http://www.noborderbiking.com From Nordkapp to Italy by Bike
• http://forum.interrail.net/nordkapp-train-t512.html Nordkapp by Rail