( Skolt Sami: Vue'rjemjokk sme, Vuorjánjohka fi, Vuoremijoki and russian: Гренсе Якобсэльв) is a small 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), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...

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 the ...

. It is located on the shore of the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

at the mouth of the Jakobselva river. It lies about by road east of the town of Kirkenes. The area was settled by Norwegians in 1851.

Border with Russia

The Jakobselva river forms the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, on the east side of Grense Jakobselv. Here, there is a small post of the

Garrison of Sør-Varanger Garrison of Sør-Varanger ( no, Garnisonen i Sør-Varanger, GSV) is a military base of the Norwegian Army. It is located at Høybuktmoen in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The military base sits adjacent to Kirke ...

of the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...

, from where soldiers patrol the border. In this area, however, there is no public border crossing.

King Oscar II Chapel

In the village, there is a stone chapel built in 1869 called

King Oscar II Chapel King Oscar II Chapel ( no, Kong Oscar IIs kapell) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located near the village of Grense Jakobselv, about from the border with Russia ...

. The church was built to reinforce Norway's territorial claim to the area, and was named after King

Oscar II of Sweden and Norway Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

at a visit he made in 1873. King Oscar II Chapel, Grense Jakobselv, Norway

Distance from Oslo

Grense Jakobselv is the point in mainland Norway farthest by national road from Norway's capital Oslo. It is by a route entirely within Norway. Oslo Central Station -> E18 (2 km) -> Rv190 (5.5 km) -> E6 (121 km) -> Rv3 (272 km) -> E6 (1501 km) -> Rv93 (97 km) -> Rv92 (97 km) -> E6 (316 km) -> E105 (9.5 km) -> Rv886 (44 km) If international routes are included, the distance is approximately ( shorter), travelling through the neighboring countries of Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In this scenario,

Gamvik ( sme, Gáŋgaviika) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mehamn. The other main villages in Gamvik include ...

would be the farthest place from Oslo ().

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Grense Jakobselv
Tourist information websiteConduct and Travel at the Norwegian - Russian Border
- Norges Grensekommissær (from archive.org) Villages in Finnmark Barents Sea Sør-Varanger Populated places of Arctic Norway