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Concept
Narvik (town)
Summary
Narvik is a town and the administrative centre of Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town is located along the Ofotfjorden in the Ofoten region. The town lies on a peninsula located between the Rombaken fjord and the Beisfjorden. The European route E06 highway runs through the Beisfjord Bridge and Hålogaland Bridge crossing the two small fjords surrounding the town.
The town has a population (2018) of 14,141 which gives the town a population density of .
Narvik Church is the main church for the town. Narvik is a commercial centre for the region. Narvik University College has approximately 1,200 students. There are some high-tech businesses in Narvik (among them Natech).
Narvik is named after the old Narvik farm ("Narduigh" – 1567), since the town is built on its ground.
The Old Norse form of the port was probably *Knarravík. The first element is the genitive pluralis of knarr which means 'merchant ship' and the last element is vík meaning 'inlet'. The name Knarravík (modern forms Knarvik or Narvik) is found in several places along the Norwegian coast (and three places in the old Norwegian province of Bohuslän) and it tends to refer to good and natural ports.
The port was once called Victoriahavn after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, though Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria was also honoured.
The history of Narvik as a settlement began in the Bronze Age. Not very much is known about these people, but the Vikings lived in this area.
Narvik was developed as an all-year ice free port for the Swedish Kiruna and Gällivare iron mines. The history of modern Narvik begins in the 1870s, when the Swedish government began to understand the potential of the iron ore mines in Kiruna, Sweden. Obtaining iron ore from Kiruna had one significant problem in that there was no suitable Swedish port. The nearest Swedish port, Luleå, had limitations. It was covered with ice all winter, far from Kiruna, and allows only medium-sized bulk freight vessels.
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