Varangerhalvøya National Park () lies on 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in the municipalities 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 ...

Nesseby Nesseby may refer to: *Nesseby Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Nesseby (village) , , or is a small village in Nesseby Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the southern coast of the Varanger ...

Vadsø Vadsø or Vadso may refer to: Places * Vadsø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vadsø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, tow ...

, and

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� ...

, in the northeasternmost part of Norway. The peninsula was earlier the largest area within the

Arctic climate The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Som ...

zone in mainland Norway, but with the 1991-2020 normals, much of the area is now considered to be a

boreal climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

rather than arctic. Much of the area is still

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

Flora and fauna

Since species from the Arctic, eastern Siberia, and more southerly areas all occur together on the Varanger Peninsula, the plant life is distinctive. The small deciduous woodlands in the area are among the northernmost in the world. Lime-rich bedrock and soil in the north supports rich pockets containing rare species like ''

Papaver dahlianum ''Papaver dahlianum'', commonly called the Svalbard poppy, is a poppy species common on Svalbard, north-eastern Greenland and a small area of northern Norway. It is the symbolic flower of Svalbard. Some sources regard this species as part of ''P ...

'' (a

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...

), field fleawort, Svalbard snow cinquefoil , and ''

Arenaria pseudofrigida ''Arenaria pseudofrigida'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. Its native range is Subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of he ...

'' (a sandwort). The peninsula still has a complete alpine ecosystem with

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

(domesticated),

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

, and

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...

. The latter is the most endangered mammal species of Norway. A special programme based on reducing the number of the dominant red fox has shown very good results (per 2008) for the small Arctic fox population.

Important Bird Area

An area of about of the peninsula, largely coinciding with the national park, 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 breeding populations of many birds, including lesser white-fronted geese,

long-tailed duck The long-tailed duck (''Clangula hyemalis'') or coween, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of ...

common scoter The common scoter (''Melanitta nigra'') is a large sea duck, in length, which breeds over the far north of Europe and the Palearctic east to the Olenyok River. The black scoter (''M. americana'') of North America and eastern Siberia was formerl ...

greater scaup The greater scaup (''Aythya marila''), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup and tufted duck. It spends the summer months breeding in Iceland ...

Eurasian golden plover The European golden plover (''Pluvialis apricaria''), also known as the Eurasian golden plover, or just the golden plover within Europe, is a relatively large species of plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers, the American g ...

bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

ruddy turnstone The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan wader, wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was form ...

Temminck's stint Temminck's stint (''Calidris temminckii'') is a small wader. This bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by ...

dunlin The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader in the genus '' Calidris''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown", with the suffix ''-ling'', meaning a person or ...

purple sandpiper The purple sandpiper (''Calidris maritima'') is a small shorebird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. This is a hardy sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America and winters further south on the Atlan ...

little stint The little stint (''Calidris minuta'' or ''Erolia minuta'') is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America an ...

red-necked phalarope The red-necked phalarope (''Phalaropus lobatus''), also known as the northern phalarope and hyperborean phalarope, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a ...

spotted redshank The spotted redshank (''Tringa erythropus'') is a wader (shorebird) in the large bird family Scolopacidae. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas'', a ...

long-tailed jaeger The long-tailed skua or long-tailed jaeger (''Stercorarius longicaudus'') is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. Etymology The word "jaeger" is derived from the German word ''Jäger'', meaning "hunter". The English word "skua" comes fr ...

Arctic jaeger The parasitic jaeger (North America) or Arctic skua (Europe) (''Stercorarius parasiticus''), is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migratory species breeding in Northern Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada ...

pomarine jaeger The pomarine jaeger (''Stercorarius pomarinus''), pomarine skua, or pomatorhine skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropical oceans. Taxonomy The Pomarine Jaeger is most closely related ...

short-eared owl The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mo ...

rough-legged buzzard The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk (North America) (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in arctic and subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia during the breeding season, and migrates s ...

gyrfalcon The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), also abbreviated as gyr, is a bird of prey from the genus ''Falco'' (falcons and kestrels) and the largest species of the family Falconidae. A high-latitude species, the gyrfalcon breeds on the Arctic coasts and tundra, ...

red-throated pipit The red-throated pipit (''Anthus cervinus'') is a small passerine bird, which breeds in the far north of Europe and the Palearctic, with a foothold in northern Alaska. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering to Africa and South-East Asia and we ...

lapland longspur The Lapland longspur (''Calcarius lapponicus''), also known as the Lapland bunting, is a passerine bird in the longspur family (biology), family Calcariidae, a group separated by most modern authors from the Fringillidae (Old World finches). Tax ...

s and

snow bunting The snow bunting (''Plectrophenax nivalis'') is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few ...

Name

The last element is the finite form of the Norwegian word which means "

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

". The meaning of the first part of the name was originally the name of the local

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 ...

now known as the

Varangerfjorden The Varangerfjord (; ; ; ) is the easternmost fjord in Norway, north of Finland. The fjord is located in Finnmark county between the Varanger Peninsula and the mainland of Norway. Extents The fjord flows through the municipalities of Vardø, ...

( or ). The first element is which is the plural

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 the word which means "

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 ...

". 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 ...

" or "small

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varangerhalvoya National Park National parks of Norway Protected areas established in 2006 Protected areas of Finnmark Important Bird Areas of Norway Important Bird Areas of the Arctic 2006 establishments in Norway Båtsfjord Vardø Vadsø Nesseby