Kvalsund ( sme, Fálesnuorri and fkv, Valasnuora) is a former municipality in the old Finnmark county in Norway. The municipality is now part of Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county. The municipality existed from 1869 until its dissolution in 2020. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality was the village of Kvalsund. Other villages in the municipality include Áisaroaivi,

Kokelv Kokelv ( sme, Goavkejohka) is a village in Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland, along the Revsbotn fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with ...

, Oldernes, Oldervik, Revsneshamn, Skaidi. At the time of its dissolution on 1 January 2020, the municipality was the 37th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Kvalsund was also the 392nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,027. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 6.7% over the previous decade. The Kvalsund Bridge () is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

that crosses the

Kvalsundet Kvalsundet is a strait in Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The strait separates the island of Kvaløya from the mainland. The strait is crossed by Kvalsund Bridge, which connects Kvaløya to the mainland and is the wor ...

strait from the mainland to the island of Kvaløya. In 2015, the media said that for four years an application has been filed for establishing Norway's largest copper mine, depending on a permit for creating a zone in

Repparfjorden Repparfjorden is a fjord in the municipality of Hammerfest in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It has a length of about , and cuts into Porsangerhalvøya from the west, southeast of Kvaløya, Finnmark, Kvaløya. As of 2015, the municipal and natio ...

for depositing waste from the mine.

General information

The municipality of Kvalsund was established on 1 July 1869 when it was separated from the Hammerfest landdistrikt (the rural municipality surrounding the town of Hammerfest). Initially, Kvalsund had 514 residents. On 1 January 1963, the

area in southern

Måsøy Municipality Måsøy ( sme, Muosát; fkv, Moseija) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, ...

(population: 34) was transferred to Kvalsund. On 1 January 2020, Kvalsund municipality was merged into the neighboring municipality of Hammerfest, a decision that the people of the two municipalities had agreed to in 2017.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was ''Hvalsund''. The first element is ''hvalr'' which means " whale" and the last element is ''sund'' which means "

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

" or " sound". The Sámi name also translates to Whale (fáles) Strait (nuorri).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 27 March 1987. The arms show three silver-colored salmon arranged in a

pall Pall may refer to: * Pall (funeral), a cloth used to cover a coffin * Pall (heraldry), a Y-shaped heraldic charge * Pall (liturgy), a piece of stiffened linen used to cover the chalice at the Eucharist * Pall Corporation, a global business * Pall. ...

on a blue background. The salmon represents fishing in various forms: as a traditional way of living and source of income, as modern fish farming, and as a recreational activity.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had two parishes () within the municipality of Kvalsund. It is part of the

Hammerfest prosti 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 ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø ...

Government

The municipal council of Kvalsund was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Geography

The municipality is mostly located on the mainland, but parts of the municipality are also located on the islands of Kvaløya and

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

Seilandsjøkelen Seilandsjøkelen ( sme, Nuortageašjiehkki) is a glacier that is located on the island of Seiland in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The glacier is located in the municipalities of Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a munic ...

glacier is partially located in Kvalsund. Lakes in the municipality include Bjørnstadvatnet and Doggejávri.

Settlements

The main village is called Kvalsund in Norwegian and in Sámi. Historically, that village was called ''Finnbyen'', a name meaning simply " Coast Sámi settlement". Most villages in the municipality have two names: one in Norwegian and one in Sami. Other villages in the municipality include Skáidi ("meeting-place of rivers" in Sámi); Stállugárgu or Stallogargo ("troll beach"); Neverfjord or Návvuotna; and

/Guoikejohka. Regarding the latter toponyms, the Neverfjord translates to "tinder fjord" and Návvuotna to "cowshed fjord"; while Kokelv is "boiling river" in Norwegian and Guiokejohka means "rushing river" in Sámi.

Birdlife

The municipality of Kvalsund has several localities that have a rich and varied bird fauna. One of these is Repparfjordbotn with its large colony of

Arctic tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south a ...

s and its autumn numbers of goosander.

Climate

Culture

Aboriginal culture

Until a few hundred years ago, the Coast Sámi culture was completely dominant in Kvalsund. Norwegian and Kven immigration soon made the area multicultural. During

Norwegianization Norwegianization (''Fornorsking av samer'') was an official policy carried out by the Norwegian government directed at the Sámi and later the Kven people of northern Norway, in which the goal was to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native popula ...

much of the traditional culture was lost. Kokelv is the village that has most successfully preserved elements of Sámi culture, and today has a Coast Sámi museum. The gakti of the Kvalsund region is easily recognizable by dots and jags on the collars (for men) and sleeves (for women).

Fægstock

The municipality hosts an annual rock festival known as Fægstock, which takes place in Fægfjord ( sme, Veaigesvuotna, meaning "twilight fiord").

References

External links

* {{authority control Hammerfest Former municipalities of Norway 1869 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020