Båtsfjord

Båtsfjord (Báhcavuotna) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Båtsfjord (which is the only settlement remaining in the municipality). 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 269th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,165. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 3.6% over the previous 10-year period. Historically, there were many other villages in the municipality, but they have been abandoned over the years. Some of these villages include Hamningberg (abandoned in 1964), Makkaur (abandoned in the 1950s), Sandfjord/Ytre Syltefjord (abandoned in 1946), Hamna (abandoned around 1950), and Nordfjord (abandoned in 1989). Vardø Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law), 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 (population: 48) 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 (population: 621) was transferred to the neighboring Vardø Municipality.