Vardø (; ; ; ) 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 ...

in the extreme northeastern part of

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 ...

. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. 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 town of Vardø. Two of the larger villages in the municipality are

Kiberg or is a village in Vardø Municipality in eastern Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the eastern end of the Varanger Peninsula, along the Barents Sea. Kiberg is the second largest settlement in Vardø municipality. It is situated about ...

and

Svartnes Svartnes is a small village and port in Vardø Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the mainland of the Varanger Peninsula across the Bussesundet strait from the island of Vardøya where the town of Vardø is located. Svart ...

. The municipality is the 188th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Vardø is the 284th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,972. 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 6.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The town of Vardø and the rural district around it was established as a municipality 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). The law required that all towns be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was impossible to carry out for Vardø in 1838. (This also happened to the nearby towns of

Hammerfest Hammerfest or Hámmárfeasta is a town/cityIn the Norwegian language, the word ''by'' can be translated as "town" or "city". that is also the administrative centre of Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the nor ...

and

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 ...

.) The rural district of Vardø (''Vardø landdistrikt'', which was renamed

Båtsfjord Municipality Båtsfjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Båtsfjord (village), Båtsfjord (which is the only settlement rema ...

in 1957) was officially separated from the town of Vardø in 1868. 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 part of Båtsfjord merged with the town of Vardø to create Vardø Municipality. 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

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was ''Vargøy''. The first element is ''vargr'' which means "

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

" and the last element is ''øy'' which means "

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 ...

". The first element was later replaced (around 1500) with ''varða'' which means "

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

". Historically, the name was spelled ''Vardöe''.

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 ...

dates to 1898. Its borders are drawn using the

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

: red, white, and blue. The border frames the shield, and the centre field shows a complex scene incorporating a

sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

with rays, two

fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

with crews, the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

with waves, and a large

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

. In the chief is the year of the town's foundation, 1789, together with the words ''"Vardöensis Insignia Urbis"'', meaning "the seal of the town of Vardø". In the lower part of the arms is the town motto: ''"Cedant Tenebræ Soli"'', meaning "Darkness shall give way to the sun." This is
high resolution version
of the coat of arms.

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 Vardø. 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.

History

Vardø has a long settlement history before it was granted status as a town in 1789. Several stone-age sites as well as sites dating from the Sami Iron Age are known on the island. In the Medieval period, Vardø's importance grew as a result of it being the easternmost stronghold of the then-expanding Norwegian royal power. A church was built in Vardø in 1307, and the first fortress was established at about the same time. Thick cultural layers in the southeastern part of the town, Østervågen, document continuous habitation in this area reaching back at least some 800 years. Even if the presence of the fortress and king's bailiff gave Vardø a certain degree of permanence and stability not experienced by other fishing communities in Finnmark, the town's size and importance waxed and waned with the changing fortunes of the fisheries. In the mid-16th century Vardø had a population of 400 to 500 people. By 1789, however, it had reduced to about 100. In the 17th century, Vardø was the center of a great number of witchcraft trials. More than 90 persons, Norwegian and Sami, were given death sentences. They are commemorated in the Steilneset Memorial. In 1769, the Hungarian astronomer

Maximilian Hell Maximilian Hell () (born Rudolf Maximilian Höll; May 15, 1720 – April 14, 1792) was an astronomer and an ordained Jesuit priest from the Kingdom of Hungary. The lunar crater Hell is named after him. Biography Born as Rudolf Maximilian Höl ...

and his assistant

János Sajnovics János Sajnovics de Tordas et Káloz ( Tordas, 12 May 1733 – Pest, 4 May 1785) was a Hungarian linguist and member of the Jesuit order. He is best known for his pioneering work in comparative linguistics, particularly his systematic demonstr ...

, delegated by

Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was King of Denmark–Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. He was affected by mental illness and ...

, traveled to Vardø to observe the

Transit of Venus A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as ...

. After 1850, the town saw a marked expansion. The fisheries grew in importance, and so did the

Pomor trade The Pomor trade (; ) was carried out between the Pomors of Northwest Russia and the people along the coast of northern Norway, as far south as Bodø (town), Bodø. The trade went on from 1740 until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The Pomor tr ...

with Russia's White Sea region. In 1850 the population reached 400, and in 1910 it passed 3 000. During World War II, with Norway occupied by the German ''Wehrmacht'', Vardø was heavily bombed by Allied, mostly Russian forces. Most of the town center was destroyed, and the population was evacuated. After the war, the city center was completely reconstructed, but older, traditional houses survived in the periphery, such as in the old town in Østervågen. As of 2017, the fishing industry had collapsed. From 1995 to 2017, the population shrank by 50 percent to 2,100 people. In May 2017 work to lay a new electric cable from the Norwegian mainland to the island began. The additional electricity is needed to power the American-funded

GLOBUS GLOBUS is a radar system in the town of Vardø in Vardø Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. It is operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) and its official uses are primarily space observation and Arctic airspace monitoring for Nor ...

space surveillance system, located about 40 miles from Russia's Kola Peninsula, a territory studded with high-security naval bases and restricted military zones. The secrecy surrounding the radar systems has spawned fears that officials are covering up health hazards and other possible dangers. The electromagnetic pulses the current radar system emits interfere with television and radio reception, and some residents have blamed them for a rash of miscarriages and cancer cases in a civilian district next to the fenced-in security zone. The town was selected as the

millennium site A millennium site () is a site selected by a Norwegian municipality or county municipality to mark the transition to the 2000s. In Norway it was decided that the counties and municipalities would choose one millennium site for each county and m ...

for Finnmark county.

Government

All municipalities in Norway are 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 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 Vardø is made up of 19 representatives 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 Vardø: *1838–1840: Andreas Esbensen Brodtkorb *1841–1848: Paul Holst Conradi *1849–1850: Søren Engelhardt Schultze *1851–1854: Johan Daniel Stub Landmark *1855–1858: Christian Fredrik Wilhelm Scharffenberg *1859–1860: Thorvald Eid *1861–1866: Anton Johan Holmboe *1867–1871: Johan Carl Richard Wisløff *1871–1872: Arnt Nikolai Brodtkorb *1873-1873: Severin Carl Magnus Thornæs *1874–1875: Thorvald Andreas Kyhn *1876–1879: Lauritz Evje *1880-1880: Karsten Andreas Zachariassen *1881–1887: Lauritz Leganger Uchermann *1888-1888: Nikolai Christian Grove Prebensen ( H) *1889–1891: Søren I. Meyer *1892–1896: Ivar Andreas Nordang *1897-1897: Martin Olsen *1898-1898: Kristian Dahl *1899–1901: Martin Olsen *1902–1904: Henning Laurits Brodtkorb *1905–1907: Olav Martin Olsen *1908–1913: Sivert Magnus Gundersen *1914–1916: Karl Marenius Ivarsson *1917-1917: Sivert Magnus Gundersen *1917–1918: Hans Hansen Sætrum *1918–1919: Ingebrikt Nygaard *1920–1922: Iver Albert Olsen Grøttum *1923–1925: Henning Laurits Brodtkorb *1926–1930: Jon Andrå *1931–1941:

Peder Ragnar Holt Peder Ragnar Holt (25 January 1899–24 March 1963) was a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party. He was the first person from Finnmark county to be the county governor (Norway), Governor of Finnmark, a posi ...

*1941–1944: Erling Pedersen *1944–1945: Richard Bodin *1946–1959: Rudolf Olsen *1959–1968: Karl Holt *1968-1979: Hjalmar Halvorsen *1979–1981: Alf Sverre Olsen *1982–1991: Tor Andreas Kofoed ( Ap) *1995–2003: Hermod Larsen ( H) *2003–2007: Rolf Einar Mortensen ( Ap) *2007-2015: Lasse Haughom ( FrP) *2015-2019: Robert Jensen ( Ap) *2019–2023: Ørjan Jensen ( MDG) *2023-present: Tor Erik Labahå ( Sp)

Geography

Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway and the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

, located at 31°E, which is east of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and

. The eastern part of Finnmark is in the same

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

as the rest of the country, despite daylight shifted by more than an hour. The town is on the island of

Vardøya , , or is an island in Vardø Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The island is the location of the town of Vardø. The island sits about east of the mainland Varanger Peninsula. The island is connected to the mainland by the Vardø Tun ...

, but the municipality includes significant area on the mainland 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 ...

, including part of the Varangerhalvøya National Park in the southwest. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Grythaugen. The mountain Domen lies on the shore of the Varanger Peninsula. South of it lies the small Kibergsneset peninsula, where the village of

is. The town lies on the island of

, which is surrounded by a few smaller islands. Hornøya is one of them. It is northeast of Vardøya and is the site of Vardø Lighthouse. The mouth of 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, ...

lies along the municipality's eastern coast.

Climate

The port of Vardø, on 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 ...

, remains ice-free all year round thanks to the warm

North Atlantic drift The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...

. Vardø earlier had a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''ET''), but as a result of warming, Vardø now has a

subarctic 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 ...

(

: ''Dfc'') using the official 1991-2020 period, because the monthly mean temperatures in July and August has passed the threshold. Excluding high mountain areas, it was earlier the only town in Norway proper (excluding

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

and

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

) with a polar climate. The town is on an unsheltered island in the Barents Sea and treeless. The "

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

" is above the horizon from 16 May to 29 July, and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer,

polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...

from 24 November to 19 January. The average date for first overnight freeze (below ) in autumn is October 12. The weather station Vardø Radio (10 m) started recording in June 1829.

Fauna and flora

The municipality of Vardø with its seabird colonies of Hornøya and Reinøya are among the most interesting on this part of the coast. There is a small breeding population of

Brunnich's guillemot The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' is ...

as well as larger numbers of

razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

and

common guillemot The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

. The climate is too cold in summer and too windy in winter for trees, but a few planted trees exist in wind-sheltered locations, generally rowans.

Transportation

The island is connected to the mainland via the undersea

Vardø Tunnel The Vardø Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel in Vardø Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The ...

which was Norway's first such structure. Vardø Airport and the settlement of

are on the mainland opposite the tunnel entrance. Vardø is a port of call on Norway's

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 ...

ferry service. The town is the northern termination of

European route E75 European route E 75 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. The E 75 starts at the town of Vardø (town), Vardø in Norway by the Barents Sea, and it runs south through Finland, Poland, C ...

, which starts in

Sitia Sitia (Latin language, Latin and Italian language, Italian) or Siteia (, ) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 11,166 inhabitants and the municipality has 20,438 (2021). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos, Cre ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Media

The newspaper '' Østhavet'' has been published in Vardø since 1997.

Economy and tourism

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 seafood processing remain Vardø's major sources of income, although

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is starting to become an important economic factor. Vardø's tourist attractions include the Vardøhus Festning, a fortress dating back to the 14th century (although the present structure dates from 1734); the witchcraft trials memorial; severa
sea bird colonies
two museums: the

Pomor Museum The Pomors (, ) are an ethnographic group traditionally thought to be descended from Russians, Russian settlers (primarily from Veliky Novgorod) living on the White Sea coasts and nearby regions, with their southern boundary marked by a waters ...

and the

Partisan Museum Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

; and remnants of German fortifications from

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 ...

. The Yukigassen competition in Vardø is unique in Norway. Vardøhus Festning is home to two

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

trees that are diligently nurtured and warmed in winter since they cannot normally survive in Vardø's climate, north of the Arctic

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

. Seven trees were planted in 1960; the one that survived managed to blossom twice, in 1974 and 1981. It finally succumbed to the cold in 2002, but two new saplings have been planted in its place. In the summer of 2012, Vardø hosted the urban art event

Komafest Komafest was an urban art and graffiti event organized in Vardø, Norway. Tens of mostly abandoned buildings were decorated by international artists in the period 5–21 July 2012, culminating in a grand opening and a guided town tour attended by h ...

, where 12 international artists painted tens of the town's abandoned houses in a three-week period.

River fishing

Fishing permits (for salmon fishing) are sold for use on specific rivers, including Komag-elva.

GLOBUS Radar

Since 1998, the town has housed

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

installations called

I, II and III. Its official purpose is the tracking of space junk, but due to the site's proximity to

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 ...

and an alleged connection between the GLOBUS system and US anti-missile systems, the site has been the basis for heated controversy in diplomatic and intelligence circles. In March 2017 and again in February 2018 Russia executed mock air strikes aimed at Vardø, presumably because of the radar site. Both times military aircraft took off from the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

in attack formations, but stopped short of Norwegian airspace.

Sister City

Kemijärvi Kemijärvi (; ; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the sub-region of Eastern Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika Halonen, who moved from the region of Oulu, fro ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Notable people

* Viktor Esbensen (1881 in Vardø – 1942), a mariner who explored the Antarctic region * Jon Andrå (1888–1966), a politician who was mayor of Vardø from 1925 to 1930 *

(1899 in Vardø – 1963), a politician who was the first person from Finnmark county to be the Governor of Finnmark * Ada Kramm (1899 in Vardø – 1981), a stage and film actress. Retrieved 02 October 2020. *

Haakon Bugge Mahrt Haakon Bugge Mahrt (1901–1990) was a Norwegian writer and attaché. He was born in Vardø and took the ''licencié ès lettres'' degree in Paris in 1928. He worked at the Norwegian embassy in Paris as a press attaché from 1946 to 1971. Books i ...

(1901 in Vardø – 1990), a writer and press attaché at the Norwegian embassy in Paris from 1946 to 1971 *

Alfred Næss Karl Alfred Ingvald Næss (26 April 1877 – 6 July 1955) was a Norwegian speed skater. He set the men's world record for 500 meter speed skating on 5 February 1893 at 49.4 seconds in Hamar, Norway. He then broke his own world record 21 days lat ...

(1927 in Vardø – 1997), a playwright and songwriter * Trond Øyen (1929 in Vardø – 1999), a violinist who was the first violinist with the

Oslo Philharmonic The Oslo Philharmonic () is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 1871, and was esta ...

* Hans Kristian Eriksen (1933 in Kiberg – 2014), a non-fiction writer, magazine editor, novelist, and short story writer *

John Norum John Terry Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-born Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved ...

(born 1964 in Vardø), a Norwegian/Swedish rock guitarist and co-founder of the Swedish rock band

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Stefan Johansen Stefan Marius Johansen (born 8 January 1991) is a former Norwegian professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played for the Norway national team until his international retirement in 2021. Johansen joined Bodø/Glimt at t ...

(born 1991 in Vardø), a professional footballer with over 300 club caps and 55 for

Yngve Hågensen Yngve Hågensen (13 July 1938 – 17 June 2023) was a Norwegian labour union leader. Biography Hågensen was born in Vardø on 13 July 1938. He was a son of fisherman Johan Rasmussen Vinje and Helene Leonore Nilsen. In 1969, he married secreta ...

(1938 in Vardø - 2023), a labour union leader

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 ...

Varanger MuseumVaranger.com
tourist information about Varanger area
Vardø – Finnmark's millennium town
includes pictures {{DEFAULTSORT:Vardo Municipalities of Finnmark Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Barents Sea Populated coastal places in Norway