Magerøya ( sme, Máhkarávju) is a large

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

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, in the extreme northern part of

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 ...

. The island lies along 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 ...

Nordkapp Municipality ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of

Porsangerfjorden The Porsangerfjorden ( en, Porsanger Fjord; sme, Porsáŋgguvuotna; fkv, Porsanginvuono) is a fjord in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Name The fjord is officially named ''Porsangerfjorden'' in Norwegian language, Norwegian. It is also known ...

lies off the east coast of the island. Magerøya has an area of and the highest elevation on the island is the mountain Gråkallfjellet. The most northern point on the island is also the northernmost point in Norway outside

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

Knivskjellodden Knivskjellodden or Knivskjelodden is a peninsula located in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is the northernmost point on the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway. It is sometimes considered the northernmost point o ...

. The island features a bleak, barren, tundra-covered landscape devoid of any trees (except for a few small pockets of mountain

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

), with steep cliffs along the coast, and dramatic mountainscapes in the interior. On southern Magerøya, archaeologists have found evidence of settlements dating back 10,000 years.

Places on Magerøya

The main population centre on the island is the town of

Honningsvåg , other_name = , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = Honningsvåg-01.jpg , image_caption = View of the city , pushpin_map = Finnmark#Nor ...

. Other smaller places include the fishing villages of

Gjesvær Gjesvær ( sme, Geaissvearra) is an old fishing village in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is the only place in Finnmark known from the Viking Age and is mentioned in the Heimskringla saga as ''Geirsver''. The nam ...

Skarsvåg Skarsvåg is a village in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village lies along the northern coast of the island of Magerøya, and it claims the distinction of being the world's northernmost fishing village. The local ...

Nordvågen Nordvågen is a small fishing village in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the eastern coast of the island of Magerøya about northeast of the town of Honningsvåg, along the Porsangerfjorden. ...

, and

Kamøyvær Kamøyvær is a fishing village in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village lies along the Kamøyfjorden on the east side of the island of Magerøya, about northwest of the town of Honningsvåg. It sits at the end ...

. North Cape is a very popular tourist attraction on the northern shore of the island.

Transportation

Magerøya's main claim to fame is the North Cape, a steep cliff cape on the northern coast that is a major

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

. To accommodate the large numbers of tourists that visit the island, a subsea

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

was built from 1993 to 1999. The

North Cape Tunnel North Cape Tunnel () is one of the longest and the northernmost of the subsea road tunnels in Norway. It is located in Nordkapp Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county in the far northern part of Norway. The tunnel takes the European route E69 h ...

is part of the

European route E69 European route E69 is an E-road between Olderfjord and North Cape in northern Norway. The road is long. It contains five tunnels, totalling . The longest, the North Cape Tunnel, is long and reaches below sea level. During the winter mo ...

highway and it is long and reaches a depth of below sea level. For a time, it was one of the longest and deepest subsea tunnels in the world. Fog or ice may occur inside the tunnel, even in summer. Norway's

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen- Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports no ...

ferry service stops at the town of

Honningsvåg , other_name = , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = Honningsvåg-01.jpg , image_caption = View of the city , pushpin_map = Finnmark#Nor ...

on Magerøya since the waters around the island remain ice-free all year round due to the warm

North Atlantic drift The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. The NAC originates from where ...

Honningsvåg Airport Honningsvåg Airport ( no, Honningsvåg lufthavn; ) is a regional airport serving Honningsvåg in Nordkapp, Norway. The airport is located at Valan, on the south side of Skipsfjorden, north of the town, and from the North Cape. The airport h ...

is located on the eastern part of the island.

Media gallery

Mageroya E-69 road.jpg, View from Tunel na wyspe Mageroya.jpg,

entrance Nordkapp Skarsvåg.JPG,

village with some of the world's northernmost trees Tufjorden.JPG, Tiny village of Tufjorden

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mageroeya Islands of Troms og Finnmark Islands of the Barents Sea Nordkapp

Places on Magerøya

Transportation

Media gallery

See also

References