Jostedalsbreen National Park ( no, Jostedalsbreen nasjonalpark) is a national park in

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 ...

that encompasses the largest

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

on the European mainland,

Jostedalsbreen Jostedal Glacier or is the largest glacier in continental Europe. It is in Vestland county in Western Norway. Jostedalsbreen lies in the municipalities of Luster, Norway, Luster, Sogndal, Sunnfjord (municipality), Sunnfjord, and Stryn. The high ...

. The park was established by royal decree on 25 October 1991, and then in 1998, it was enlarged to the northwest. The park now covers , with the glaciers covering about of the park.

Location

The park lies in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Luster,

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...

Gloppen Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the a ...

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the souther ...

, and

Stryn Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of t ...

, all of which are in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. There are three museums and also visitors centers: the

Breheimsenteret The Breheimsenteret ( en, Breheim Center) is a museum and one of the three visitors centers for Jostedalsbreen National Park. Opened in 1993, it was located near the Jostedøla river in the village of Jostedal, about north of Gaupne and about ...

in Jostedalen,

Jostedalsbreen nasjonalparksenter Jostedalsbreen nasjonalparksenter is a visitors center in the village of Oppstryn in the municipality of Stryn in Vestland county, Norway. The center is east of the villages of Loen and Olden, on the shore of the lake Oppstrynsvatn. The mountai ...

in Oppstryn (

Stryn Municipality Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of th ...

) and

Norsk bremuseum The Norwegian Glacier Museum ( no, Norsk Bremuseum) is a museum in Fjærland, Vestland county, Norway. The building was designed by architect Sverre Fehn. In 2002 a decision was made to build an extension to the museum, which was also designed by ...

Fjærland Fjærland or Mundal is a village in Sogndal Municipality, at the end of the Fjærlandsfjorden, in Vestland county, Norway. The Fjærlandfjorden is a branch going north off the Sognefjorden, the longest fjord in Norway. The village area is located ...

(

Sogndal Municipality Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

Topography

The highest peak in the park is

Lodalskåpa Lodalskåpa is the highest nunatak on the Norwegian glacier Jostedalsbreen. It is located on the border between the municipalities of Stryn and Luster in Vestland county, Norway, within Jostedalsbreen National Park. The tall Lodalskåpa is lo ...

at . The glacier's highest point,

Brenibba Brenibba is a nunatak protruding from the north end of the Jostedalsbreen glacier in the Breheimen mountain range. It is located in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. Brenibba is south of Lodalskåpa and northeast of Høg ...

, lies above sea level while its lowest point is above sea level. The glacier has shrunk in recent years, and there are ruins of farms that were overtaken by the glacier in 1750.

Name

The park was named after the main glacier in it, Jostedalsbreen. The first element of that name is the name of the old municipality

Jostedal Jostedal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It was located in the Jostedalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of ...

, the last element is the finite form of the word ''bre'' which means "

References

External links

Map of Jostedalsbreen National Park

1991 establishments in Norway National parks of Norway Protected areas established in 1991 Protected areas of Vestland Tourist attractions in Vestland Luster, Norway Stryn Sogndal Gloppen Sunnfjord {{Europe-protected-area-stub

Location

Topography

Name

See also

References

External links