Kirkenes

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Kirkenes (help·info) (Finnish: Kirkkoniemi, Sámi: Girkonjárga) is the centre of the municipality of Sør-Varanger in Finnmark county, Norway.

Contents 1 History 1.1 World War II 2 People 3 Geography and climate 4 Economy and Tourism 5 Trivia 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

The area around Kirkenes was a common Norwegian-Russian district until 1826, when the present border was settled. The original name of the headland was Pisselvnes ("piss river headland"!)—but this was changed to Kirkenes ("church headland") after the church was built in 1862.

[edit] World War II

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Kirkenes became a base of the German Navy. Kirkenes was one of the most bombed areas during the war (reportedly, second after Malta), with 320 air attacks and more than one thousand alarms. Only 13 houses were left in October 1944. The town was liberated by the Red Army on October 25, 1944. Close to the town there is a memorial to 11 freedom fighters who helped the partisans collect information about the German occupation. In the summer of 1943 their activities were discovered and many of them were sent to a prisoner of war camp near Kirkenes.Following a Court Martial the 11 were sentenced to death and were killed near the memorial spot on 18 August 1943. When the common grave was opened in 1946 it was found that the men had been beaten to death. Following the post mortem and memorial service the bodies were returned to their homesteads. (Details taken from memorial plaque).

Between 1910 and 1997, Kirkenes was the terminus of Kirkenes-Bjørnevatnbanen, the world's most northerly railway, that was used to transport ore from the mines at Bjørnevatn to the port at Kirkenes.

[edit] People

Of the approximately 6,000 inhabitants of Kirkenes a majority is of a Norwegian background, and a minority is Sami. Others are originally from Finland, either members of the Kven population or of a newer influx of more or less recent Finnish immigrants. Also, some 500 are relatively recent Russian immigrants.

[edit] Geography and climate

Kirkenes is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark with a population of about 3,300, or about 7,300 if the neighbouring suburban areas of Hesseng, Sandnes and Bjørnevatn ^[1] are included. Kirkenes is located in the extreme northeastern part of Norway on the Bøkfjorden, a branch of the Varanger Fjord, which is a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea near the Russian-Norwegian border. The town is situated about 240 miles (400 km) north of the Arctic Circle.

The midnight sun shines from May 17 to July 21. The corresponding winter darkness extends from November 21 to January 21. Despite its location at the coast, Kirkenes exhibits a more continental climate. The mean temperature is −11.5°C (11.3°F) in January, and 12.6°C (54.6°F) in July, with an annual precipitation of 450 mm (17.7in). The record low was measured at −41°C (−41.8°F) and the record high was measured at 32.7°C (90.8°F). July 2004 was the warmest month on record, with a mean temperature of 16.9°C (62.4°F) [1]).

Weather data for Kirkenes (10 last years)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	-7 (19)	-8 (18)	-4 (25)	0 (32)	5 (41)	11 (52)	14 (57)	13 (55)	8 (46)	3 (37)	-3 (27)	-5 (23)
Average low °C (°F)	-12 (10)	-13 (9)	-9 (16)	-4 (25)	2 (36)	6 (43)	10 (50)	9 (48)	5 (41)	0 (32)	-7 (19)	-9 (16)
Source: [2] 2009-12-05

[edit] Economy and Tourism

The secretariat of the Barents Region is located in Kirkenes. One of its tasks is to create cross-border cultural, educational and business relations in the Barents Region. There is now substantial optimism in the town as a consequence of the increased petroleum drilling activity in the Barents Sea (including the Russian activity). Bøkfjorden, an excellent harbour, has attracted interest from several large companies.

Tourist attractions include Grenselandsmuseet (The Border Country Museum), which shows the history of war and peace along the Norwegian-Russian border, Sami art exhibitions by the artist John Savio(1902-1938) and a history of the mining industry in the area. The museum has a small shop and cafe.

Just outside of Kirkenes is a military base called "Høybuktmoen". Connected to this base are six border stations along the Russian border. This base and these border stations are there to protect against illegal immigrants as well as other illegal activities across the border.

Also outside Kirkenes is Andersgrotta, a vast underground bunker built during WWII which provided shelter to the town's 9,000 residents. Tours of the bunker are available.^[3]

Kirkenes is also one end of the route of Hurtigruten, which cruises daily up and down the Norway coast to and from Bergen. Kirkenes is served by Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen. There are non-stop flights to Oslo and Tromsø.

[edit] Trivia

Unlike the vast majority of Norway, Kirkenes is located east of the neighbouring country of Finland. Because of this, travelling directly west from Kirkenes actually changes the timezone forward instead of backward, like it usually does. Travelling directly east from Kirkenes (into Russia) changes the timezone forward by two hours instead of one.

One can drive 100 km south, and walk 10 km, into the Øvre Pasvik National Park, reaching the border point of the three countries, where the three timezones meet. There are only a few such places in the world. It is forbidden, according to Russian law, to walk around the marker, since entering Russia is only allowed at a border control.

[edit] See also

• The garrison of Sør-Varanger

[edit] References

The Garrison of Kirkenes (GSV)

[edit] External links

• Kirkenesinfo (Norwegian, English, German)
• Sør Varanger municipality: http://www.sor-varanger.kommune.no/
• Sør-Varanger climate statistics from met.no.

Coordinates: 69°43′N 30°03′E / 69.717°N 30.05°E / 69.717; 30.05