Alta ( se, Áltá; fkv, Alattio; fi, Alattio) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

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 town is the administrative centre of the municipality and the major commercial centre in the western part of the county. The town is located on the southern end of

Altafjorden Altafjord ( en, Alta Fjord;Koop, Gerhard, & Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 2000. ''Heavy Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class: Warships of the Kriegsmarine''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, p. 55. no, Altafjorden; fkv, Alattionvuono) is a fjord in A ...

at the mouth of the river

Altaelva Altaelva ( en, Alta River; sme, Álttáeatnu; fkv, Alattionjoki) is the third-longest river in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The river begins in the mountains and lakes in Kautokeino Municipality, near the border with Troms og Finnmark ...

. There are several suburbs around the town. Kåfjord, Kvenvik, and

Jiepmaluokta ''Hjemmeluftbukta'' (Northern Sámi: ''Jiepmaluokta'') is a bay in Alta Municipality, Finnmark, Norway. It is the main site for the rock carvings at Alta with about 3,000 individual carvings (petroglyphs). The bay lies on the southwestern edge ...

lie to the west; Øvre Alta and Tverrelvdalen lie to the south; and

Rafsbotn or is a village in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village sits at the southeast end of the Altafjorden, along the European route E6 highway, about northeast of the town of Alta. The name comes from the Sami place ...

lies to the east. The famous

rock carvings at Alta The Rock art of Alta (''Helleristningene i Alta'') are located in and around the municipality of Alta in the county of Finnmark in northern Norway. Since the first carvings were discovered in 1973, more than 6000 carvings have been found on sev ...

lie just to the west of the town. The town of Alta has three churches: the historic

Alta Church Alta Church ( no, Alta kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the Bossekop area in the Alta (town), town of Alta. It is one of the churches for the Alta parish w ...

in Bossekop, the relatively new

Elvebakken Church Elvebakken Church ( no, Elvebakken kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the Elvebakken area in the town of Alta. It is one of the churches for the Alta paris ...

in Elvebakken, and the

Northern Lights Cathedral The Northern Lights Cathedral - Alta Church ( no, Nordlyskatedralen - Alta Kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county. It is located in the central part of the town of Alta. It is the main c ...

(the new "main" church for the municipality that was completed in 2013). Alta is also an educational centre in Finnmark county.

Finnmark University College Finnmark University College ( no, Høgskolen i Finnmark or HiF) was a university college with three campuses throughout Finnmark, Norway. In August 2013 Finnmark University College and the University of Tromso merged to form what is now called the ...

is based in Alta as well as the local primary and secondary schools, including

Alta Upper Secondary School Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

Alta District Court Alta District Court ( no, Alta tingrett) was the district court based in the town of Alta in Finnmark county, Norway. The court served the municipalities of Alta and Loppa. The court was subordinate to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal. The cour ...

is based in the town, serving the municipalities of

Loppa Loppa ( sme, Láhppi and fkv, Lappea) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Øksfjord. Other villages in Loppa include Andsnes, Bergsfjord, Langfjordhamn, Lop ...

and Alta.

Alta IF Alta Idrettsforening is a sports club from Alta, Norway. The club is most known for its association football department, which played in the 1. divisjon until 2014. Alta currently plays in 2. divisjon, the third tier of the Norwegian football l ...

is the main sports team for the town.

Population

Alta is considered the northernmost city in the world with a population surpassing 10,000. The town of Alta was established in 2000 when the villages of

Bossekop fi, Possukoppa , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type = Part of town , image_skyline = Ipy-bossekop-fig1.jpg , image_caption = View of the village (1887-1888) , pushpin_map = Fi ...

, Elvebakken, and Alta were joined and declared a town by the municipality council. The town has a population (2017) of 15,094 which gives the town a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of .

Transportation

Alta is a centre of transportation in Finnmark county. The town has port facilities along

, just alongside Alta Airport in Elvebakken. The airport has direct flights to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

and certain other big cities in Norway like

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

. The European route E6 highway also runs through the town and the

European route E45 The European route E45 goes between Norway and Italy, through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north–south European route (some east–west routes are longer). The route passes throug ...

has its northern terminus in the town. The main industries present in Alta include a concrete product factory; several wood mills and sawmills; and dairy, horticulture trade, and maritime services.

Media gallery

9 - FN-stafett 2012 - Komsa skole (Alta).jpg, Altabakkene 01.jpg, Bilde-Alta boligomraade.jpg, Nordlyskatedralen i Alta.JPG, Alta Sentrum.jpg, Finnmarksloepet.JPG, Alta Centrum 2.JPG, Alta Centrum 1.JPG,

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Norway Alta, Norway Populated places of Arctic Norway 2000 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 2000

Population

Transportation

Media gallery

See also

References