, other_name = , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type =

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 ...

, image_skyline = Honningsvåg-01.jpg , image_caption = View of the city , pushpin_map = Finnmark#Norway , pushpin_label_position = bottom , pushpin_mapsize = , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name =

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 ...

, subdivision_type1 =

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, subdivision_name1 = Northern Norway , subdivision_type2 =

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

, subdivision_name2 =

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. ...

, subdivision_type3 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, subdivision_name3 = Vest-Finnmark , subdivision_type4 =

Municipality 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 ...

, subdivision_name4 =

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 ...

, timezone1 =

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

, utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST =

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

, utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = 1.05 , population_as_of = 2017 , population_footnotes = , population_total = 2,484 , population_density_km2 = 2366 , postal_code_type = Post Code , postal_code = 9750 Honningsvåg , elevation_m = 12 , elevation_footnotes = , coordinates = is the northernmost city in mainland

. It is located in

county. Honningsvåg was declared a city in 1996, despite its small population. The town has a population of 2,484 (2017) 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 . Honningsvåg is situated at a bay on the southeastern side of the large island of

Magerøya Magerøya ( sme, Máhkarávju) is a large island in Troms og Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of Norway. The island lies along the Barents Sea in Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of Porsangerfj ...

, while the famous North Cape and its visitor center is on the northern side of the island. Honningsvåg is a port of call for Hurtigruten Coastal Express and

cruise ships Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

, especially in the summer months. The ice-free ocean (the southwestern part 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 ...

) provides rich fisheries and tourism is also important to the town. Even at 71°N, many private gardens in Honningsvåg have trees, although rarely more than tall. The famous dog

Bamse ''Bamse – Världens starkaste björn'' () is a Swedish cartoon created by Rune Andréasson. The highly popular children's cartoon first emerged as a series of television short films as well as a weekly Comic strip formats#Half page, half-page ...

came from Honningsvåg.

Transportation

Honningsvåg is one of the main stops of the

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 ...

coastal ships on their lengthy route along the Norwegian coast between Kirkenes in the north and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

in the south. The northbound ships to Kirkenes dock in the port from 11:15 to 14:45, generating heavy tourist activity in the city. The southbound ships to Bergen make a short stop around 05:30. The

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 ...

, located north of the town, offer flights mainly to

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 ...

, with connecting service 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 ...

History

The area was first settled in prehistory, as early as 10,300 years ago. The sea was probably the main food source.

City status

Honningsvåg was declared a town in 1996 by the municipal council of Nordkapp. National legislation was passed in 1997 that states that a Norwegian city must have at least 5,000 inhabitants, but since Honningsvåg was declared a city in 1996, it was exempt from this legislation. This makes it one of the smallest cities in Norway.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

form of the name was probably ''Hornungsvágr''. The first element is then the genitive case of the (hypothetical) name of a mountain, ''Hornungr'', which has since fallen into disuse. Hornungr could have been an older name of mount Storefjell (literally "big mountain"), a tall and hornlike peak near Honningsvåg, which would imply that the name was derived from the word ''

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

''. The last element is ''vágr'', which means " bay". The full name thus means "the bay lying beneath the mountain ''Hornungr''."

Notable people

Media gallery

39 Honningsvåg.jpg Honningsvåg 02.jpg Honningsvag view 01.jpg Honningsvaag Altsula.JPG FISKERNES SERVICESTASJON, 5.jpg Área de camping, Honningsvåg, Noruega, 2019-09-03, DD 67.jpg

Climate

Even though Honningsvåg is located at the northernmost extreme of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, it has a subarctic climate, thanks to the

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 ...

. Winter temperatures are softened by the ice-free ocean, and are extremely mild for the polar latitude, even milder than winters at Oslo Airport which is located and 11 degrees of latitude further south. Located at the coast, Honningsvåg can experience strong winter storms and blizzard conditions, sometimes closing the road connection. On 29 December 2008, winds were recorded at 81 mph. Snow cover can be deep in winter, threatening avalanches in steep terrain. Precipitation is evenly spread throughout the year, but with a little peak in autumn. Honningsvåg has polar day with midnight sun from 13 May to 31 July. From 21 November to 21 January the sun is below the horizon (polar night). On 29 June 2022 a new record high was set with .

References

External links

*http://www.northcape.no - history and culture of the North Cape area
Information from Nordkapp municipalityVisitnorway.com
- about Honningsvåg {{DEFAULTSORT:Honningsvaag Populated places in Troms og Finnmark Port cities and towns in Norway Cities and towns in Norway Barents Sea Populated places of Arctic Norway Magerøya