Seiland National Park ( no, Seiland nasjonalpark) lies in

Alta Municipality ( se, Áltá ; fkv, Alattio; fi, Alattio) is the most populated municipality in Finnmark in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the municipality in ...

and

Hammerfest Municipality Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

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 ...

. The park includes the majority of the island of

Seiland Seiland ( sme, Sievju) is the eighth largest island in mainland Norway, located in Troms og Finnmark county. The island is divided between the municipalities of Alta and Hammerfest Archeological excavations have shown that people have lived ...

, the second largest island in

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

after

Sørøya Sørøya ( sme, Sállan) is Norway's fourth largest island in terms of area. The island is divided between Hasvik Municipality and Hammerfest Municipality. It is often claimed to be "one of the most beautiful" of the islands in Norway. In 2018 ...

. The park includes two

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 over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s: Seilandsjøkelen and Nordmannsjøkelen (the northernmost glaciers in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

). The highest point in the park is the tall mountain

Seilandstuva Seilandstuva is the highest mountain on the island of Seiland in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The tall mountain lies on the border of Alta Municipality and Hammerfest Municipality, and it is inside Seiland National Park. The Seilandsjøkele ...

. The park was established on 8 December 2006. The of the water inside the park's area, includes the surrounding sea and many

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

s including the Nordefjorden, Sørefjorden, and Flaskefjorden.

Name

The name of the island must be very old, from

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...

''*Sai-aujo'' ("sea-island"), and the

Northern Sami language Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

name ''Sievju'' is probably an old loan and reflection of this form. In Norse times the name was transformed first to ''*Sæ-ey'', and then to just ''*Sei''. The last element ''land'' means "land" or "island" is a later addition.

References

National parks of Norway Hammerfest Alta, Norway Protected areas established in 2006 Protected areas of Troms og Finnmark Tourist attractions in Troms og Finnmark 2006 establishments in Norway {{Europe-protected-area-stub