Båtsfjord (Northern Sami: Báhcavuonna, Finnish / Kven: Paattivuono) is a municipality in Troms and Finnmark county. The municipality is located on the north side of the Varanger Peninsula and has its current boundaries from 1964 when the eastern parts of Båtsfjord were transferred to Vardø municipality.
Population
Båtsfjord had 2,268 inhabitants at the end of the
third quarter of 2016, an increase of over 10% from 2010. All
settlement and administration in the municipality are gathered in
the large fishing village at the bottom of the 13 km long Båtsfjord.
In 2018, 29.5% of Båtsfjord's inhabitants had an immigrant
background, the municipality was thus in 2nd place among
municipalities with the highest percentage of immigrants after Oslo.
The largest group of immigrants comes from Lithuania (257 people as
of 1 January 2017). Then come Poland, Russia, Finland and Sri Lanka.
Geography
Båtsfjord municipality is located in East Finnmark,
on the Varanger Peninsula facing the Barents Sea. The municipality
borders in the southeast towards Vardø, in the south towards Vadsø
and in the west towards Berlevåg, and meets Tana at one point in the
west.
Båtsfjord center is located about 70.6 degrees north,
and 29.7 degrees east.
Attractions
Fuglefjell
Fuglefjellet Syltefjordstauran is one of Norway's largest. It is
world famous for its great diversity of nesting seabirds and sea
eagles. The mountain is most easily experienced from a boat, as the
rock formations make it difficult to observe the birds from land.
Geology
The landscape in Båtsfjord municipality is
geologically very old by Scandinavian standards, and largely shaped
before the ice ages. Inland ice from the last ice ages was frozen
over large parts of the Varanger Peninsula and thus changed the
landscape to a small degree. The large block land areas are believed
to be very old, from before the last ice age. However, the ice has
left a large number (several thousand) peculiar annular formations,
formations that are otherwise known from only a few other places in
the world. The area also excels with many, long and sometimes
crossing gutters, which tell a lot about the melting of the ice and
movements.
History
The municipality
The Vardø
presidency district (town and rural district) was established in
1838 and includes the current Vardø and Båtsfjord municipalities. In
order to comply with the presidency laws' separation between town
and rural area, Vardø was formally divided into Vardø market town
and Vardø rural area in 1839, but due to small population, they were
first separated in the municipal sense by royal resolution of 22 May
1868, with effect from 1 January, 1869
At the division in
1839, Vardø rural area had 245 inhabitants and consisted of the
entire northwestern part of the Varanger Peninsula, an area of
2258 km². Vardø town consisted only of the urban buildings around
Vardøhus on Vardøya, an area of about 0.2 km². On 1 January 1874,
the rest of Vardøya with 48 inhabitants was transferred from the
rural area to Vardø town, and the rural area was reduced to 2254
km². On 1 January 1964, the eastern third of Båtsfjord (until 1957
Vardø rural area) with 621 inhabitants was transferred to Vardø, and
Båtsfjord got its current area.
Båtsfjord was the place that
was least damaged in the German burning in the autumn of 1944.
Although 27 houses were completely damaged, there was otherwise
relatively little damage. The place was therefore used as a supply
base for the liberated Finnmark after the German withdrawal. Many
who were evacuated to the west during the burning, returned to
Båtsfjord as their first place in the winter of 1945–1946.
Municipal name
As usual for many of the country's parishes which
consisted of a town and its surroundings, these were divided into a
town and a rural district which both bore the town's name (aka Vardø
market town and Vardø rural district). During the 19th and 20th
centuries, most of the rural areas changed to their own (local)
names, and in this way Vardø rural district retained its urban name
for a long time. It was not until the 1950s that an attempt was made
to change the name of the municipality. The Mapping Authority
proposed Øst-Varanger, but the county council voted in April 1951 on
the names Domen (after the mountain Domen west of Bussesundet) and
Båtsfjord, with the following result: Domen 9 votes and Båtsfjord 4
votes. Consequently, the municipality name was to be Domen from 1
July 1951. This did not happen anyway, and instead the municipality
name became Båtsfjord from 1 January 1957. By the above-mentioned
boundary regulation in 1964, the mountain Domen remained in Vardø
municipality.
Municipal coat of arms
Approved by royal
resolution on 19 April 1985 and was signed by Arvid Sveen. Shows a
fishing hook in silver on a blue background. In flag a white fishing
hook on a blue background. The fishing hook is designed after finds
from the Stone Age of fishing hooks made of bone in the
municipality.