() is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Øst-Finnmark East-Finnmark () is a Districts of Norway, district in Finnmark county, Norway. Eastern Finnmark covers an area of from the border with Russia in the east to the Sværholt Peninsula in the west. The district includes the nine municipalities of Be ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the village of Berlevåg. There are two settlements in the municipality of Berlevåg: the village of Berlevåg and the village of Kongsfjord. The village of Berlevåg is by far the biggest; Kongsfjord only has around 45 inhabitants.

Kjølnes Lighthouse Kjølnes Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse located in Berlevåg Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the Varanger Peninsula along the Barents Sea, about east of the village of Berlevåg. History The lighthouse was ...

is located along the shore, east of the village of Berlevåg. The municipality is the 100th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Berlevåg is the 341st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 892. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is and its population has decreased by 15.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Berlevåg was established on 1 January 1914 when it was separated from

Tana Municipality or is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tana bru. Among the other villages in the municipality are Austertana, Bonakas, Polmak, Rustefjelbma, and Skiippagurra. The m ...

. Initially, there were 784 residents. The borders have remained unchanged since that time. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; ; ; ) was a county in northern Norway that existed from 2020 to 2023. The county was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. It was the largest county by area in Norway, encompassing about , and w ...

county. Previously, it had been part of the old

county. On 1 January 2024, the

county was divided and the municipality once again became part of

county.

Name

There are different opinions of the origin of the name ''Berlevåg'' (or historically spelled ''Berlevaag''). The first is that it relates to an old

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 that sounded like ''Berlevaggi'' or ''Perlavaggi''. The second is that it derives from the name of the first settler or explorer at the bay whose name was ''Berle'' or ''Perle''. The last theory of the name Berlevåg (which is less likely) is that the first element derives from the Norwegian word which means "

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

" and the last element is which means "

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Berlevaag'' with the

digraph Digraph, often misspelled as diagraph, may refer to: * Digraph (orthography), a pair of characters used together to represent a single sound, such as "nq" in Hmong RPA * Ligature (writing), the joining of two letters as a single glyph, such as " ...

" aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Berlevåg'', using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 22 July 1988. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Per fess In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name (e.g. a shield divided in the shape of a ch ...

rayonny Or and

azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) that is divided by a line with a rayonny design with five

wave In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...

s with yellow over blue. The field above the line has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The color below the line has a tincture of azure (blue). The design is meant to symbolize the sun over the waves of the sea that break against the shore. This can represent both the struggle against the sea as well as the dependence on it. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has one parish () within the municipality of Berlevåg. It is part of the Varanger prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms and Finnmark counties as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, t ...

Transportation

Berlevåg Airport Berlevåg Airport (; ) is a regional airport serving Berlevåg Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The airport is situated northwest of the village of Berlevåg (village), Berlevåg and is owned and operated by Avinor. The airport tower is ...

is located just outside the village of Berlevåg.

Norwegian County Road 890 Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

runs through Berlevåg, connecting it to the neighboring municipalities, and the rest of Norway. Facing rough ocean conditions, the four man-made

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Breakwaters have been built since antiquity to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels from marine hazards ...

that protect the harbor of Berlevåg have been destroyed several times due to bad weather. The current breakwaters include

tetrapods A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four- limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetrapoda (). Tetrapods include all extant and extinct amphibians and amniotes, with the lat ...

that intertwine and have made for a flexible breakwater that can resist the Barents Sea. The port was completely secured with breakwaters in 1973. Since then, the Coastal Ferry has been able to dock in Berlevåg. Prior to that time, a smaller vessel had to unload cargo and passengers from it in the open sea and then ferry them in to the port.

Government

Berlevåg Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the

Indre og Østre Finnmark District Court Indre og Østre Finnmark District Court ( or ) is a district court located in Finnmark, Norway. This court is based at two different courthouses which are located in Tana Bru and Vadsø. The court is subordinate to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal ...

and the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as well as the island territor ...

Municipal council

The

of Berlevåg is made up of 13 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Berlevåg: *1914–1919: Alf Brodtkorb ( LL) *1920–1925: Christian Olsen Gaare ( LL) *1926–1931: Anton Grebstad ( V) *1932–1934: Jørgen Lund ( Ap) *1934–1953: Jentoft Jensen ( Ap) *1953–1969: Agaton Larsen ( Ap) *1970–1975: Finn Jørstad ( Ap) *1976–1977:

Oddrunn Pettersen Oddrunn Kristine Helene Pettersen (5 March 1937 – 30 November 2002) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who served as Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs from April to October 1989, and Minister of Fisheries from 1990 t ...

( Ap) *1978–1979: Gullik Bugge Nicolaysen ( Ap) *1980–1983: Tora Høgestøl ( LL) *1984–1991: Bjarne Johnsen ( Ap) *1992–1995: Erik Brøske ( Ap) *1995–1999: Arne Kristian Arntzen ( Ap) *1999–2003: Steinar Hansen ( Ap) *2003–2007: Erik Brøske ( SV) *2007–2011: Janne Andreassen ( Ap) *2011–2015: Karsten G. Schanche ( H) *2015–present: Rolf Laupstad ( Ap)

Geography

The municipality is situated in the northwestern part of the

Varanger Peninsula The Varanger Peninsula (; ; ) is a peninsula in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the northeasternmost part of Norway, along the Barents Sea. The peninsula has the Tanafjorden to the west, the Varangerfjorden to the south, and the Bar ...

, facing the open

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

to the north and the

Tanafjorden The Tanafjord (, , or ) is a large fjord in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Tana, Gamvik, and Berlevåg. Its orientation is mainly north–south, reaching approximately from the small village of Smalfjord in Ta ...

to the west. It is an isolated and barren region with mostly rocks and tundra. There are no native trees in Berlevåg because of the cold and windy summers. The municipality also contains the lakes

Geatnjajávri Geatnjajávri is a lake in Berlevåg Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The lake is located just north of the border with Tana Municipality, along the road between the villages of Berlevåg and Båtsfjord. The Norwegian County Road 890 ...

and Skonsvikvatnan. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Hanglefjellet.

Climate

Berlevåg's coastal location serves to moderate temperatures during winter, giving it a marine subarctic climate. Coldest month is February with mean , while warmest month is July and August, both with mean .

Birdlife

The sea and the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s along this part of Finnmark's coastline are home for thousands of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s. As well as the large seabird colonies with thousands of nesting birds, there are also areas of unspoiled nature consisting of

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

s, and

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es. This enables

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

in a natural environment. A 17,855 ha area of marine waters along the coast, including

supralittoral The supralittoral zone, also known as the splash zone, spray zone or the supratidal zone, sometimes also referred to as the white zone, is the area above the spring high tide line, on coastlines and estuaries, that is regularly splashed, but not s ...

and

neritic The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

habitats, has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports a population of

Steller's eider Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is a migrating Arctic diving duck that breeds along the coastlines of eastern Russia and Alaska. It is the rarest, smallest, and fastest flying of the eider species. Due to the extensive contraction of i ...

History

World War II

Berlevåg, along with the rest of

, was occupied during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was originally put into use at this time, when

German occupying forces German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly military occupation, militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the governmen ...

constructed it with the help of hundreds of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. From 1943 to 1944, there were nearly daily

bombing raids A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

from Russia on Berlevåg and the German airfield. In November 1944, the village was completely burned down and the inhabitants evacuated by force as part of the

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

strategy of the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. In the aftermath, the Norwegian government wanted to relocate the inhabitants to nearby Kongsfjord because of a better harbour, but they refused, and the village was rebuilt. As there are absolutely no trees in Berlevåg, many of the houses in Berlevåg were built by the help of the wooden planks in the " tarmac" and runway of the previous German airfield.

Popular culture

Berlevåg was brought some fame in Norway when the Norwegian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Knut Erik Jensen Knut Erik Jensen (born 8 October 1940 in Honningsvåg, Finnmark) is a Norwegian film director, best known for his documentary '' Cool and Crazy''. Biography After studying French, Russian and history, Jensen attended the London Film School. I ...

made a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about ''Berlevåg Mannsangsforening'', Berlevåg's men's

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. The movie ''Heftig og begeistret'' () was a big hit 2001 in Norway, first shown at

Tromsø International Film Festival The Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) is an annual film festival held during the third week of January in Tromsø, Norway. The inaugural Tromsø International Film Festival was held in 1991. TIFF has 6 screening venues, including Ver ...

. The choir later went on a tour of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and were featured at

Ground zero A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The choir's oldest and most famous member, Einar Strand, died at the age of 98 in 2004. Berlevåg is also the place for the fictional story "Babette's Feast" by the Danish author

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

/ Isak Dinesen published in the anthology ''

Anecdotes of Destiny ''Anecdotes of Destiny'' is a collection of stories by Danish author Karen Blixen written under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. It was the last work published during Karen Blixen's lifetime, on October 12, 1958. Two of the stories from the collectio ...

'' (1958). (See also the homonym film

Babette's Feast ''Babette's Feast'' () is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with f ...

Notable Person

* Stig Henrik Hoff (born 1965), a Norwegian actor was born in Vadsø, but grew up in Berlevåg and Fiskum. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

Sister City

The following are

twin town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

s of Berlevåg: *

Belomorsk Belomorsk (; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Belomorsky District in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Onega Bay on the shore of the White Sea. Population: History In the beginning it was a small village named ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlevaag Municipalities of Finnmark Populated places of Arctic Norway 1914 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1914 Important Bird Areas of Norway Important Bird Areas of the Arctic Seabird colonies Barents Sea