Narvik

Title

The city is named after the old Narvik farm ("Narduigh" - 1567), because the city was built on its territory ^[1] . The meaning of the first element of the name is unknown; the end of the name, the word vik , means a narrow sea bay .

Initially, the city was called Victoriahavn in honor of Queen Victoria of Great Britain ^[2] .

Coat of Arms

The commune has a modern coat of arms. It was adopted on June 1, 1951. The coat of arms depicts an anchor of gold color on a red background. The anchor symbolizes the fact that Narvik is an important port (the largest harbor in Northern Norway) ^[3] .

The railway connecting Narvik with the Swedish iron ore deposits in Kiruna , as well as the seaport through which the ore was sent to other countries, made Narvik an important strategic goal for the command of Nazi Germany .

The battle of Narvik occurred during World War II between the German-Austrian invasion forces under the command of Edward Dietl and the allied forces of the British-French forces under the command of Antoine Betuart , the Polish forces and the Norwegian forces under the command of Karl Gustav Fleischer .

The invasion was carried out by about 2,000 Austrian mountain riflemen from the 139th mountain rifle regiment of the 3rd mountain rifle division . These were soldiers who were specially prepared for military operations in the mountains, and, in particular, they were good skiers. The squadron consisted of 10 new German destroyers. On a snowy morning on April 9, 1940, the Norwegian battleships Norge and Eidsvold were torpedoed in the harbor of Narvik. The confrontation lasted 2 months. The city was recaptured on May 28, 1940 by the joint forces of the Norwegian army and the French foreign legion, but a week later the allies left Narvik due to the general strategic situation. During the war, the city was almost completely destroyed. The victory in the battle of Narvik was the first victory of the Allied forces in this war.

During the battle, the city became the most talked about topic on world news, which made it one of the most famous cities abroad, and even today Narvik is regarded as the most famous city in Norway north of Trondheim , although it is much smaller than Tromsø or Bodø .

Stable northern climate with seasonal variations. Summer temperatures range from 8 to 28 degrees Celsius. Rainfall is less than on the coast. Long snowy winter from December to April. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, the average winter temperature is −5 - 10 degrees Celsius, thaws are not uncommon.

Narvik does not have a railway connection with other parts of Norway, but has a connection with Sweden . Thousands of tons of iron ore are transported daily through the Malmbanan railway line connecting it to the Swedish city of Kiruna (and further to Luleå and the rest of Sweden) for its subsequent shipment through the seaport in Narvik. Daily passenger trains also run. This railway line is considered the most intense track in the Scandinavian countries. There is a constant increase in the capacity of the road through the construction of roads. The construction of the second track is planned along the entire railway.

The main air traffic is via Harstad-Narvik Airport , 86 km from the city of Evenes . There are regular buses to the cities of Narvik and Harstad from the airport. In the city itself, located, which was used for local traffic. On April 1, 2017, Framnes Airport was closed due to the construction of the Holugalann Bridge , which reduced the travel time to the airport in Evenes. The last flight was on March 31, 2017 in Bodø.

•   Poland : Nowy Sacz ^[4]
•   Russia : Kingisepp
•   Serbia : Kikinda
•   Finland : Rovaniemi
•   Finland : Michaeljokki
•   Sweden : Kiruna

• Figures on Narvik Municipality (inaccessible link) . Statistics Norway. - statistics on the city. Date of treatment October 13, 2008. Archived February 11, 2005.
•   Travel Guide Narvik in Wikiguide
• Museum of Military History of Narvikau (Norwegian) . Date of treatment January 9, 2010. Archived March 19, 2012.