Birtavarre

Birtavarre (Northern Sami: Gáivuonbahta; Kven: Pirttivaara) is a village in the municipality of Gáivuotna-Kåfjord-Kaivuono in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located along the Kåfjordelva river (Northern Sami: Gáivuoneatu) at the end of the Kåfjorden in the Kåfjorddalen valley in an area called Kåfjordbotn (Northern Sami: Gaivuonbahta).

Birtavarre
Village
View of the village chapel
Birtavarre
Location of the village
Birtavarre
Birtavarre (Norway)
Coordinates: 69°29′42″N 20°49′49″E
CountryNorway
RegionNorthern Norway
CountyTroms og Finnmark
DistrictNord-Troms
MunicipalityGáivuotna–Kåfjord
Area
 • Total0.31 km2 (0.12 sq mi)
Elevation10 m (30 ft)
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total214
 • Density690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code
9147 Birtavarre

The 0.31-square-kilometre (77-acre) village has a population (2017) of 214 which gives the village a population density of 690 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,800/sq mi).[1]

Birtavarre is located along European route E6 about 18.3 km (11.4 mi) southeast of the municipal centre of Olderdalen (on the north side of the fjord) and about 12.5 km (7.8 mi) southeast of Samuelsberg and Manndalen (on the south side of the fjord). Birtavarre Chapel is also located in the village.

Name

Birtavarre is a former mining town with smelters in Ankerlia that are preserved by the Nord-Troms Museum. It was during the mining period that the village adopted the name Birtavarre. Up until that time the area had been called Kåfjordbotn, meaning the end of the Kåfjorden. Since there was also mining in Kåfjord in the nearby Alta Municipality, many workers ended up in the wrong Kåfjord. The name was changed simply for the practical reason of avoiding confusion. The Sámi name for the place, Gáivuonbahta, is translated from the old name Kåfjordbotn. The present name for the village comes from the nearby mountain Pirttivaara which is a Kven language name.

References
  1. Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2017). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality".
  2. "Birtavarre" (in Norwegian). yr.no. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.