Who are we that live here?
 From the first settlers to modern times
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Ann Tove Jacobsen
20.09.2010 09:05
The First settlers
The oldest known settlement in Finnmark was on Magerøy (Sarnes) and is believed to date back ten thousand years. There are several other places where people have left their traces eight thousand years ago, and many settlements have been found to date back to the later Stone Age, about four thousand years ago. Cave art, including rock carvings in Alta and elsewhere, goes back two to six thousand years and is thought to have had religious and magical significance.
 The Sami are our indigenous people. Obscure as it may be, the first impact of their culture goes back at least 2000 years. Sami territory, Sapmi, covers an area which is now intersected by borders between Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Most of the Sami live in Norway.
The languages or dialects all have the same origin, though they now differ so much that a Sami from Kola (in Russia) can hardly communicate with a "South Sami" using the mother tongue.
Multi-cultural communities are no novelty in Finnmark where, for centuries, Sami, Finns, Norwegians and Russians have left their mark.
Norwegians first settled in Finnmark in the thirteenth century. The first church was consecrated in 1307 in Vardø, where a fortress was built at about the same time. Good fishing and promising trade stimulated migration from northern Europe.
The "Kvens", immigrants from Finland and Sweden during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries evolved into Finnish communities of which we find traces to this very day, particularly in the eastern part of the county where the Finnish language can still be heard and where there are several Finnish surnames.
...as formodern times
War
 World War II, 1939-45, left deep scars in Finnmark. The allies bombed and destroyed large parts of Kirkenes, Vadsø and Vardø. Towards the end of the war, much of the county was razed to the ground. When the Germans were driven out by Soviet troops during the autumn of 1944, they applied the "Scorched Earth" approach. More than ten thousand dwellings, schools, hospitals and churches were destroyed, in addition to much of the fishing fleet. About two thirds of the population was evacuated to southern Norway by force.
The Post-War Period
In the spring and summer of 1945, most of those who had been forced to leave moved back. Though the authorities wanted to reconstruct the county, they succeeded only partially. There was a scarcity of practically everything, but people insisted on returning to rebuild what was lost. Most of the county bears the mark of post-war architecture. Some places have never been rebuilt at all.
Finnmark Today
During the eighties, the population of Finnmark decreased. The decline has since slowed down, but by April 1. 2004, the population was about 1000 less than in 1990. Fishing has always been, and will continue to be vital for Finnmark's future. The natural gas field Snøhvit (“Snow White”) is under development. The LNG plant is being built on Melkøya (“Milk Island”) outside of Hammerfest, and there are great expectations regarding employment and other welcome consequences from this activity, though there are also some concerns about possible effects on environment and fisheries.
Wildlife
An important source of well-being in Finnmark is, for many people, the accessibility of wildlife. Although we live in the far north, we are often blessed with balmy, sunny days, particularly further inland, when there is plenty of opportunities for swimming. The dark period lasts from mid-November till the end of January, and temperatures can drop below minus 40 degrees Celsius in the inland areas. Under such conditions it is naturally too cold and too dark for a number of activities, but during the rest of the year, there is every reason to enjoy nature, to hunt and fish, to go hiking and pick berries. Cloudberries, in particular, are popular both as a household tidbit and as a source of income.
Hunting in Finnmark is mainly for grouse, hare and elk. We have good grouse territory and every autumn hunters arrive from distant parts of the country to take part in the grouse hunt. There is a stable elk population, and hunters contend fiercely for hunting permits every year.
Salmon rivers in Finnmark have become well known, particularly the Tana and Alta rivers. More than sixty thousand lakes contain fish, as well as numerous lesser rivers where there is trout, arctic char and salmon.
Sports
Both at top and grass root levels, sports have a high standing in Finnmark,  which has fostered such famous men as Bjørn Wirkola and Vegard Ulvang. Many people belong to a sports club. The most popular activities are football and skiing, but there are others that are less common elsewhere in the country, such as snow snowmobile races, dog or reindeer sleigh racing. There are well-organised services for athletes, and numerous gymnasiums, swimming pools, track and field facilities and ski centres. There are also illuminated cross-country skiing tracks.
Education
Education in Finnmark is well organised and decentralised, both for children and at upper secondary school and college levels. Worth mentioning are the singular upper secondary school branches, "Reindeer husbandry" in Kautokeino and "Fishing, hunting and processing" in Nordkapp and in Vardø. The college "Høgskolen i Finnmark" in Alta and the Sami college "Sámi Allaskuvla" in Kautokeino offer decentralised education within a number of disciplines, in collaboration with the University of Tromsø.
Health and the Social Sector
There are two state-run hospitals in Finnmark, one in Kirkenes and one in Hammerfest. In addition, there is a medical specialist centre in Karasjok. Virtually every municipality has its own medical centre and dentist's surgery. Finnmark has three family counselling services and three district psychiatric centres as well as several psychiatric treatment and care centres for children and for treatment of drug addiction. There is some difficulty recruiting qualified staff to health care posts. The municipalities, the county municipality and the state share responsibility for the above-mentioned institutions.
Art and Culture
There is plenty of cultural activity in Finnmark. Sami arts and handicrafts add a very unique touch to the county. Professional artists, amateurs, clubs and associations organize a wide range of activities.
There are many practitioners of handicraft in the county. Sami handicrafts, called "duodji" have deep-seated traditions, which should at all cost be passed on to future generations.
 Music thrives in Finnmark, and singing is popular. Choirs and wind orchestras are active in most communities, while professional musicians in the institution Music in Finnmark collaborate with local musicians. The Varanger Festival, which is held every August in Vadsø, is the northernmost jazz festival in Europe. Lots of children and youngsters busy themselves with cultural activities in their spare time, and about 250 of them participate in the "Young People's Cultural Review" every year.
Moreover, in every municipality, arts and crafts classes are held, a service that contributes a great deal to people's sense of well-being.
Cabaret performances and amateur acting enjoy long-standing popularity in the county, not least along the coast. In Kautokeino they have founded the Beaivvaš Sámi theatre, while the Hålogaland Theatre in Tromsø makes a tour of the county every year. In addition, there are three independent theatres and dance companies in Finnmark, the Samovar Theatre in Kirkenes, the Stellaris ballet company in Hammerfest and the Theatre Factory in Vadsø.
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