Norge - Norway - Noreg | ||
Finnmark - Kirkenes |
Kirkenes is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway. The town has a population of about 3,300, which expands to approximately 7,300 if the neighbouring suburban areas of Hesseng, Sandnes and Bjørnevatn are included. Kirkenes is located in the extreme northeastern part of Norway on the Bøkfjorden, a branch of the Varanger Fjord, which is a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea near the Russian-Norwegian border. The town is situated about 240 miles (400 km) north of the Artic Circle. The midnight sun shines from May 17 to July 21. The corresponding winter darkness extends from November 21 to January 21.
During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Kirkenes was one of the many bases for the German Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe's Jagdgeschwander 5, and apart from that, the area served as a main base for supplies to the Murmansk-front. Reportedly Kirkenes keeps a second place after Malta on a list of european towns experiencing air-raid alarms and attacks, with more than 1000 alarms and 320 air attacks. The town was taken in control by the Red Army on October 25, 1944 as the German Wehrmacht was pushed out and fled the area after having destroyed most of the remaining infrastructure. Only 13 houses survived the war.
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