Kirkenes
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Kirkenes is the centre in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark, Norway. The town is located at Barents Sea, far north of the Arctic Circle. Midnight sun shines from May 17th to July 21st. The corresponding winter darkness extends from November 21st to January 21st.
Kirkenes is situated by Bøkfjorden near the border to Russia. The town has about 6,000 inhabitants, of which some 500 being relatively recent Russian immigrants. 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 and a history of the mining industry in the area. Kirkenes is also one end of the route of Hurtigruten, which cruises regularly down the Norway coast to Bergen.
Kirkenes was one of the most bombed towns during WWII (reportedly, second after Malta), with 320 air attacks and more than one thousand alarms. 13 houses were left in October 1944.
The secretariate of the Barents Region is located in Kirkenes. One of its tasks is to create cultural, educational and business relations across the borders in the Barents Region.
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.
External links
- Tourist information: http://www.kirkenesinfo.no
- Grenselandsmuseet: http://museumsnett.no/sor-varangermuseum/engelsk.htm
- Local hotel in listed building: http://www.dirboligen.no
- Courses and education: http://www.kirkeneskompetanse.org
- Tour operator Kirkenes/barentsregion/Russia: http://www.grenseland.no
- Sør Varanger municipality: http://www.sor-varanger.kommune.no/de:Kirkenes