, , is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Alta Municipality Alta (; ; ; ) is the most populated List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Alta (town), town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the ...

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,

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 village is located along the Kåfjorden, about west of the town of Alta along the

European route E6 European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...

highway. The village of Kvenvik lies about to the east, also along the E6 highway. At the summit of Mount Haldde, about by a track from Kåfjord, is a restored

Northern Lights Northern lights most commonly refers to the aurora borealis, a natural light display in Earth's sky. (The) Northern Light(s) may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Northern Lights'' (1978 film), about the Nonpartisan League in Nort ...

Observatory, established by

Kristian Birkeland Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland (born 13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norway, Norwegian space physics, space physicist, inventor, and professor of physics at the University of Oslo, Royal Fredriks University in Oslo. He is best remembe ...

in 1899 and operational until 1926, when it was transferred to

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

History

Copper ore Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

was mined at Kåfjord between 1826 and 1909. A mining company, Alten Copper Mines, was founded by two Englishmen in 1826. By the 1840s, the village had grown to become the largest settlement in Finnmark county, with over 1,000 inhabitants, including Englishmen from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. The copper works are now closed and derelict. In 1837, the British built

Kåfjord Church Kåfjord Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gáivuotna Municipality (''Kåfjord'') in Troms county, Norway. It is located in the village of Olderdalen. It is the church for the Kåfjord parish which is part of the Nord-Troms ...

, which was restored in 1969. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' used Kåfjord as a harbour, and she was damaged there by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

aircraft and by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

midget submarines in

Operation Source Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – ''Tirpitz'', ''Scharnhorst'', and ''Lützow'' – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at K� ...

. Six midget submarines or X-Craft were used but only two successfully laid charges (under the Tirpitz). Crafts X6 and X7, commanded by Lt Donald Cameron and Lt

Godfrey Place Rear Admiral Basil Charles Godfrey Place, (19 July 1921 – 27 December 1994), known as Godfrey Place, was an officer in the Royal Navy and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be a ...

, respectively, were successful. ''Tirpitz'' was badly damaged, crippled, and out of action until May 1944; it was destroyed on 12 November 1944 by

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

bombers, during

Operation Catechism Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that destroyed the German battleship Tirpitz, German battleship ''Tirpitz''. It was conducted on 12 November 1944 by 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers that attacked the battleship at its ...

in Tromsø, Norway. The Tirpitz Museum in the village is devoted to the ''Tirpitz''.

Notable Person

Notable people that were born or lived in Kåfjord include: * Henry Woodfall Crowe (1832–1865), British-Norwegian interpreter, translator, and author

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaafjord, Alta Villages in Finnmark Populated places of Arctic Norway Alta, Norway