Båtsfjord () 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 ...

. 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

Båtsfjord Båtsfjord may refer to: Places *Båtsfjord Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Båtsfjord (village), a village in Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Båtsfjord Airport, an airport in Båtsfjord municipality in ...

(which is the only settlement remaining in the municipality).

Båtsfjord Airport Båtsfjord Airport (, ) is a regional airport serving Båtsfjord Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It consists of a runway and served 14,485 passengers in 2016. A further 14,663 landed and started at the airport without leavi ...

is a new, modern

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, located just outside Båtsfjord village. 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 ...

coastal express ferry also has regularly-scheduled stops in Båtsfjord village. The municipality is the 63rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Båtsfjord is the 276th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,113. 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 4.3% over the previous 10-year period. Historically, there were many other villages in the municipality, but they have been abandoned over the years. Some of these villages include Hamningberg (abandoned in 1964), Makkaur (abandoned in the 1950s), Sandfjord/Ytre Syltefjord (abandoned in 1946), Hamna (abandoned around 1950), and

Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...

(abandoned in 1989).

General information

Vardø Municipality Vardø (; ; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than Saint Petersburg or Istanbul. ...

was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law), encompassing the northeastern 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 ...

. In 1839, to comply with the ''formannskapsdistrikt'' law, the rural parts of the municipality, outside of the island/town of

Vardø Vardo or Vardø may refer to: Places * Vardø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vardø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Vard� ...

, were separated to form the new municipality of ''Vardø landdistrikt''. Initially, Vardø landdistrikt had a population of 245. The new municipality was too small to be an official self-governing municipality, and it was not until 22 May 1868 when a royal resolution was passed that officially declared it a self-governing municipality. On 1 January 1874, a small part of Vardø landdistrikt (population: 48) was transferred to the town of Vardø. In 1956, the name was changed to ''Båtsfjord''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the eastern fourth of Båtsfjord (population: 621) was transferred to the neighboring

. 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

The name was originally ''Vardø landdistrikt'' (and later ''Vardø herred'') which both mean "the rural district of Vardø", since the municipality surrounded the town of Vardø. On 24 August 1956, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to ''Båtsfjord''. This new name was chosen because the village of Båtsfjord () was the main population centre of the municipality. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of which means "the innermost part of a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

". The last element is which means "

". The village is located at the innermost part of a fjord, so the name has a very straightforward meaning.

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 19 April 1985. 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 ''"

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 * ...

, a fish hook

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

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

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) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

bone

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called an angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by i ...

. The fishing hook 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 ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the fish hook was chosen for the great economic importance of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and

fish processing The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...

in the municipality. The shape of the hook was derived from ancient

hooks found in the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen after a proposal by Svein Harald Eliassen.

Economy

Fishing permits (for salmon fishing) are sold for use on specific rivers including the Sandfjordelva, Syltefjordelva and Komagelva. A

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

processing factory was started in 2015. About 20 to 30 million

Norwegian krone The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...

r was the cost of investment. It initially employed 28 people.

Government

Båtsfjord 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 Båtsfjord is made up of 15 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 Båtsfjord: *1869-1869: Hans Juel Borchgrevink *1869–1870: Erik Hansen Bjerke *1871–1873: Oscar Lindboe *1874–1878: Erik Hansen Bjerke *1879–1880: Jakob Hundseth *1881–1882: Martin Hundseth *1883–1886: Hans Christian Enoksen *1887–1896: Radmand Sundfær ( H) *1897–1898: Nils Hamborg ( V) *1899–1901: Johan Isaksen ( H) *1902–1904: Nils Hamborg ( V) *1905–1907: Albert Moe *1908–1910: Mathias Fuglevik ( V) *1911–1913: Johannes Sundfær *1914–1916: Iver Paulsen ( Ap) *1917–1919: Johan A. Abrahamsen *1920–1925: Arne Hansen *1926–1928: Johan A. Abrahamsen *1929–1931: Richard Lind ( Ap) *1932–1934: Thorleif Schirmer ( Ap) *1935–1945: Alfred Halvari ( NKP) *1946–1947: Johan Mikalsen ( Ap) *1948–1963: Leif Nervik ( Ap) *1964–1975: Ole Martin Nakken ( Ap) *1975-1975: Einar Sørnes ( Ap) *1976–1983: Arne Gundersen ( Ap) *1984–1987: Peder Karlsen ( Ap) *1988–1991: Tore Gundersen ( Ap) *1991-1991: Aslaug Eriksen ( Ap) *1992-1999: Leif Arne Viken ( Ap) *1999-2003: Just Hjalmar Johansen ( H) *2003-2007: Geir Knutsen ( Ap) *2007-2009:

Frank Bakke-Jensen Frank Bakke-Jensen (born 8 March 1965 in Båtsfjord) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He served as minister of defence from 2017 to 2021, and minister of European affairs from 2016 to 2017. He was mayor of Båtsfjord Municip ...

( H) *2009-2011: Gunn Marit Nilsen ( H) *2011-2019: Geir Knutsen ( Ap) *2019–2021: Ronald Wærnes ( Sp) *2021-2023: Lone Johnsen ( Sp) *2023-present: Øyvind Hauken ( LL)

Geography

The municipality covers an area of including Finnmark's highest mountain pass over Ordofjell at above sea level. It is situated on the northeastern coast of the

, on the rocky coastline of the

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 ...

. There are no native trees due to the climate. The Varangerhalvøya National Park lies in the southern part of the municipality. Makkaur Lighthouse lies along the shoreline, near the mouth of the

Båtsfjorden or is a fjord in Båtsfjord Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The long fjord cuts into Varanger Peninsula from the north from the Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the no ...

, northeast of the village of

. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Skipskjølen, located on the border with

Vadsø Municipality Vadsø (; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Vadsø (town), town of Vadsø, which is also the administrative centre of Fi ...

. Previously, there were several villages along this barren coast, but today everyone lives in the village of

, with a sheltered harbor at the end of the

inlet. Among the now-abandoned

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

s is Hamningberg on the outer coast, which has many well-preserved 19th century wooden houses. Now, it is only used for summer vacation stays. The world's northernmost

gannet Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. They are known as 'solan' or 'solan goose' in Scotland. A common misconception is that the Scottish name is 'guga' but this is the Gaelic n ...

colony to be found on the stack at Syltefjordstauran, along the Syltefjorden, north of the now-abandoned village of

. Two pairs were discovered in 1961, but the colony has now grown to well over 300 pairs.

Buildings and structures

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 Båtsfjord. 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 ...

. The main church is

Båtsfjord Church Båtsfjord Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Båtsfjord Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Båtsfjord. It is the main church for the Båtsfjord parish which is part of the Varanger pro ...

. There are two other small chapels, but they are only used for special occasions since they are located in uninhabited areas that are only used for summer cottages.

Mast for broadcasting

* high guyed mast for FM-/TV-broadcasting. See

List of tallest structures in Norway A list of the tallest structures in Norway. This list contains all types of structures. References External links * http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=37735294 {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Tallest Structures In Norway Tallest structu ...

Notable people

* Geir Knutsen (born 1959), a politician *

(born 1965), a politician who was Mayor of Båtsfjord from 2007 and

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

since 2017
Dagsavisen, December 2016 * Gjert Ingebrigtsen (born 1966), a sports coach * Jan Thore Grefstad, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1978), a rock singer and songwriter

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 ...

Pictures of Wild life and nature in Båtsfjord
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baatsfjord Municipalities of Finnmark 1839 establishments in Norway Populated places of Arctic Norway Populated places established in 1839 Barents Sea