68°26N 17°25E, pop (2000e) 19 400. Seaport in Nordland county, N Norway; at W end of a peninsula in the Ofoten Fjord, opposite the Lofoten Is; airfield; terminus of the Lappland railway from the Kiruna iron-ore mines in Sweden; ice-free harbour; occupied by Germany, 1940; scene of World War 2 naval battles in which two British and nine German destroyers were lost.
Coordinates: 68°25′N 17°33′E
Narvik (Northern Sami: Narviika) is a town in the county of Nordland, Norway, in the Ofoten landscape in North Norway, inside the arctic circle. Narvik borders Evenes to the
northwest, Bardu and Gratangen in Troms county to the north, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the south and east and Ballangen to the southwest.
Geography
The municipality of Narvik covers large areas outside the town itself.
The eastern part, towards the border with Sweden, is dominated by mountains, and Storsteinfjellet reaches 1894 m. The city itself is situated near the innermost part of the deep Ofotfjord, but even here the mountains, going almost straight up from the blue fjord, reach 1500 m, even 1700 m in Skjomen, where the glacier Frostisen can be seen. Narvik has well prepared slopes for alpine skiing, some of which end almost in the city center.
Situated 220 km inside the arctic circle, Narvik is one of the most northernly towns in the world. However, the North Atlantic drift (extension of the Gulfstream) gives Narvik a much milder climate than one might expect for a town at this latitude.
Seasons in Narvik
Average temperature is below freezing from mid-November until the first days of April.
The light varies a lot in Narvik: The sun is below the horizon from late November until mid-January; The light is often intense in March and April, with long daylight hours and snow cover - the
snow melts in lowland areas in April, but stays in the mountains for several months. There is also a transitional period with twilight in the night, so you will not be able to see any stars at
night from the last days of April until approximately August 10.
Economy and Communications
The activity related to the railway and large port facilites are still important in Narvik, and goods to and from northern Norway are often distributed via Narvik, which is situated near the centre of this region. In the project the Northern East West Freight Corridor there are plans for using Narvik as a port for goods from East Asia bound for eastern North America. Narvik is a commercial centre for some of the neighbouring municipalites. Narvik University College has approximately 1200 students. There are some high-tech businesses in Narvik (among them Natech).
Narvik was founded in 1887 as an all-year ice free port for the Kiruna/Gällivare iron mines, and given the name Victoriahavn (Victoria harbor) until 1898, when the name was changed to Narvik. Ofotbanen is the railroad connecting Narvik to Kiruna in Sweden, passing through the mountains dividing the two countries. Narvik is served by two airports: Narvik Airport, Framnes just outside the city center has a short runway and is used by smaller aircraft. Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes is 80 km by road from Narvik.
Recreation and tourism
Narvik is all about great outdoor adventures. Wreck diving attracts divers to Narvik, as there are a lot of wrecks in or near the harbor, and more spread out in the fjord. Narvik was destroyed by the fighting in 1940 and hastily rebuilt, hence the architecture is rather functional, but private homes are often painted in bright colours.
Narvik in World War II
The port of Narvik proved to be strategically valuable in the early years of World War II and the town became a focal point of the Norwegian Campaign. However, when the Gulf of Bothnia froze during the winter, most of the ore had to be brought from Narvik. The town of Narvik is linked by rail to Sweden, but not to other towns in Norway. As a result, Narvik serves as a gateway to the ore fields of Sweden which cannot be easily reached from southern Norway over land. Then First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill realized that control of Narvik meant stopping most German imports of iron-ore during the winter of 1940, which would be highly advantageous to the Allies and might help shorten the war. Churchill proposed laying a minefield in Norwegian territorial waters around Narvik or possibly occupying the town with Allied troops. The Allies hoped that they might be able to use an occupied Narvik as a base from which to secure the Swedish ore fields and/or to send supplies and reinforcements to Finland, then fighting The Winter War with the Soviet Union. Plans to lay a minefield around Narvik or to seize the town met with debate within the British government since both plans would mean a violation of Norway's neutrality and sovereignty.
Finally, on April 8, 1940, the British Admiralty launched Operation Wilfred, an attempt to lay minefields around Narvik in Norwegian territorial waters. During this invasion, ten German destroyers, each carrying 200 mountain infantry soldiers, were sent to Narvik. The British Navy quickly dispatched ships, including the battlership HMS Warspite, to Narvik and during the Battles of Narvik took control of the coast, destroying the German destroyers that had brought the invasion force to Narvik as well as other German ships in the area.
The first convoys of Allied soldiers were sent under Major-General Mackesy to occupy Narvik on April 12. The Admiralty urged Mackesy to conduct an assault on Narvik from the sea as soon as possible. The Admiralty argued that a naval bombardment of Norway would enable the troops to land safely, but General Mackesy refused to subject Norwegian citizens to such a bombardment and instead chose to land his troops near Narvik and wait until the snow melted to take the city.
Coordinated by General Carl Gustav Fleischer, Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recaptured Narvik on May 28, 1940. Since the invasion of France had made Scandinavia largely irrelevant, and since the valuable troops assigned to Narvik were badly needed elsewhere, the Allies withdrew from Narvik on June 8 in Operation Alphabet. Alvar Hanso, a major player in the lost experience and Lost is based in Narvik.
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