|
Location Information:
Hammerfest
(help·info) is a city and
municipality in Finnmark county,
Norway. The municipality encompasses
parts of three islands: Kvaløya,
Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was
established as a municipality on 1
January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt). The law
required that all cities should be
separated from their rural
districts, but because of low
population, and very few voters,
this was impossible to carry out for
Hammerfest in 1838. (See also Vadsø
and Vardø.) The rural district of
Hammerfest (Sørøysund) was separated
from the city on 1 January 1852, but
it was merged back into the city on
1 January 1992. (But without the
area of Kvalsund, which was
separated from Sørøysund as a
municipality of its own in 1869.)
Hammerfest offers sport and
commercial fishing, both sea and
freshwater, as well as scuba diving.
The northernmost glacier on the
Norwegian mainland is a popular
hiking destination. The town is a
popular starting point for northern
tours. There is a daily boat to the
North Cape (Norwegian: Nordkapp).
One chain of the Struve Geodetic
Arc, now on the World Heritage List,
is located at Fuglenes in Hammerfest.
Hammerfest is also a centre of Sami
culture.
American author Bill Bryson begins
his European travels, documented in
his popular book Neither Here Nor
There with a visit to Hammerfest in
order to see the Northern Lights,
stating that he found the town
"engrossing" and that it "had grew
to feel like home".
Local
Weather:
|
