Båtsfjord is a municipality in Troms og Finnmarkcounty, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Båtsfjord. Båtsfjord Airport is a new, modern airport, located just outside Båtsfjord village. The Hurtigruten coastal express ferry also has regularly-scheduled stops in Båtsfjord village. The municipality is the 60th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Båtsfjord is the 267th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,221. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.3% over the last decade. Historically, there were many other villages in the municipality, but they have been abandoned over the years. Some of these villages include Hamningberg, Makkaur, Sandfjord/Ytre Syltefjord, Hamna, and Nordfjord.
General information
was established on 1 January 1838, encompassing the northeastern part of the Varanger Peninsula. In 1839, to comply with the formannskapsdistrikt law, the rural parts of the municipality, outside of the island/town of Vardø, 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 was transferred to the town of Vardø. On 1 January 1955, the name was changed to Båtsfjord. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the eastern fourth of Båtsfjord was transferred to the neighboring Vardø Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Finnmark county.
Name
The name was originally Vardø landdistrikt which both mean "the rural district of Vardø", since it surrounded the town of Vardø. On 1 January 1955, the name was changed to Båtsfjord since the village of Båtsfjord is the main population centre of the municipality. The Old Norse form of the name is Botnsfjǫrðr. The first element is the genitive case of botn which means "the innermost part of a fjord" and the second part is the Old Norse spelling for "fjord". 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 is from modern times; they were granted on 19 April 1985. The arms show a silver fish hook on a blue background. It was chosen as a symbol for the great economic importance of fishing and fish processing in the municipality. The shape of the hook was derived from ancient Stone Age hooks found in the municipality.
The municipal council of Båtsfjord is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:
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 Varanger Peninsula, on the rocky coastline of the Barents Sea. 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, northeast of the village of Båtsfjord. Previously, there were several villages along this barren coast, but today everyone lives in the village of Båtsfjord, with a sheltered harbor at the end of the Båtsfjorden inlet. Among the now-abandoned fishing villages 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 colony to be found on the stack at Syltefjordstauran, along the Syltefjorden, north of the now-abandoned village of Nordfjord. 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 has one parish within the municipality of Båtsfjord. It is part of the Varanger prosti in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. The main church is Båtsfjord Church. 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.
s are sold for use on specific rivers, including Sandfjord-elva, Syltefjord-elva and Komag-elva. A crab factory was started in 2015; 20 - 30 million Norwegian kroner was the cost of investment—then employing 28.
Båtsfjord was used in the cartoonMetalocalypse first episode, "The Curse of Dethklok." In the episode, 300,000 people from around the world travel to Båtsfjord to hear the main characters, a death metal band named Dethklok play a little-over-one-minute jingle promoting a fictional coffee company. The episode features a large amount of death by various means, mainly the parachuted stage missing its landing spot. The episode also features James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica fame.
