Map of Finnmark

History

The Sámi are the indigenous people of Finnmark, but Norwegians have lived for hundreds of years on the islands' outer parts, where they made up the majority. The Sámi people still constitute the majority in Finnmark's interior parts, while the fjord areas have been ethnically mixed for a long time. This essentially holds true today.

The Sámi were for years victims of the Norwegianization policy, which in essence was an attempt by the government to make them "true Norwegians" and forget about their Sámi way of life and religion, which was seen as inferior. As a result, the Sámi living at the coast and in the fjords gradually lost much of their culture and often felt ashamed of their Sámi heritage. The Sámi in the interior managed to preserve more of their culture.

Geography

Finnmark is Norway's northernmost and easternmost county (Svalbard is not considered a county). By area, Finnmark is Norway's second-largest county, even larger than the neighboring country of Denmark. With a population of about 75,000, it is also the least populous Norwegian county. Finnmark has a total coastline of 6,844 kilometres (4,253 mi), including 3,155 kilometres (1,960 mi) of coastline on the islands. As of 2000, nearly 12,300 people, 16.6% of the county's population, lived in the 100-meter belt along the coastline.

Knivskjellodden in Nordkapp Municipality (on the island of Magerøya) is sometimes considered Europe's northernmost point (on an island); Kinnarodden on Nordkinn Peninsula in Lebesby Municipality is the northernmost point on the European mainland.

Economy

Fisheries have traditionally been the most important way of living along the coast, where the majority of the Norwegian population live. The red king crab, originally from the northern Pacific Ocean but brought to the Barents sea by the Russians, have invaded from the east and are now being exploited commercially (especially in the Varangerfjord). To prevent the crab from spreading too far south, crab fishing west of Nordkapp is totally unregulated.

In more recent years, tourism has grown in importance, with the North Cape (in Nordkapp Municipality) and the towns of Alta and Hammerfest as the most important destinations.

As of 2001, one percent of the work force were employed in the oil industry and the mining industry.

Demographics

The old Stone Age Komsa culture is difficult to relate to the people living in Finnmark today. There are findings suggesting that the Sami people have been there for a long time, but exactly how long is unclear, some scholars claiming 8000 years but others only 2500 years. From the 10th century, the coastal areas have been populated and visited by ethnic Norwegians, and Finnmark became part of the kingdom.