Elvenes is a village in

Sør-Varanger Municipality Sør-Varanger ( sme, Máttá-Várjjat, fkv, Etelä-Varenki, fi, Etelä-Varanki, russian: Сёр-Вара́нгер/Syor-Varánger) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located at the mouth of the river

Pasvikelva The Paatsjoki River ( fi, Paatsjoki, sms, Paaččjokk, sme, Báhčaveaijohka, no, Pasvikelva, sv, Pasvik älv, russian: Паз or Патсойоки, ''Paz or Patsoyoki'') is a river that flows through Finland, Norway, and Russia. Since 1826 ...

where it flows into the

Bøkfjorden Bøkfjorden ( sme, Báhčaveaivuotna) is a fjord in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The long fjord is a southern branch off of the main Varangerfjorden. The river Pasvikelva empties into the Bøkfjorden at the vill ...

, a southern branch of the

Varangerfjorden The Varangerfjord ( en, Varanger Fjord; russian: Варангер-фьорд, Варяжский залив; fi, Varanginvuono; sme, Várjavuonna) is the easternmost fjord in Norway, north of Finland. The fjord is located in Troms og Finnmark co ...

. The village lies about east of the village of

Hesseng Hesseng is a village in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village lies about south of the town of Kirkenes. The village of Hesseng lies at the intersection of the European route E105 and European route E6 highw ...

, along the

European route E105 E105 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. It is a north–south reference road, meaning it crosses Europe from north to south and other E-road numbers have been calculated based on these referenc ...

. The town of

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

lies about a drive to the northwest.

History

During the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

a camp for Soviet

prisoners-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

was located in Elvenes, and in 1942 about six hundred Norwegian teachers were sent to Elvenes for slave labour.

Road bypass

As part of an

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

875 million programme of improvements to European Route E105, work started in 2014 on a bypass to the north of the village comprising a new 284-metre bridge over the Bøkfjorden and a 690-metre tunnel through the adjacent Trifonhøgda mountain. The bridge has a 500-tonne steel central arch span of 120 metres, which was constructed in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and will be transported by barge along the entire west and north coast of Norway into the fjord. The section of road between Elvenes and the Russian border at

Storskog Storskog is a border crossing station on the Norwegian side of the Norway-Russia border, along the European route E105 highway. The crossing is located in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county on the Norway side of the border. The Russia ...

was constructed in 2013, while the bridge and tunnel are expected to open by September 2017.

References

Villages in Finnmark Sør-Varanger Populated places of Arctic Norway {{Finnmark-geo-stub