Alta (; ; ; ) is the most populated

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the municipality include Kåfjord, Komagfjord, Kvenvik, Langfjordbotn, Leirbotn, Rafsbotn, Talvik, and Tverrelvdalen. The town of Alta and most of the municipality is located just below the 70th latitude and is closer to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

than it is to much of

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

and the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. The town is the northernmost settlement of urban significance in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

, with municipalities north of Alta being sparsely populated. In spite of its high latitude the local climate is seldom severely cold thanks to

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

moderation in the prevailing wind, and lower altitudes of the municipality are covered with boreal forests. Due to Norway curving above its Nordic neighbours, Alta is located further east than almost all of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and much of southern

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Being at a very high latitude,

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

and

polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...

are present for sizeable parts of the year. The municipality is the 7th largest municipality by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Alta is the 59th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 21,708. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 9.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The old Alten-Talvig Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). Not long afterwards, on 1 January 1863, it was divided into two: Talvik Municipality to the north (population: 1,938) and Alta Municipality to the south (population: 2,442). On 1 January 1964, the two neighboring municipalities were merged back together to form a new Alta Municipality. Prior to the merger, Alta had 6,629 residents and Talvik had 3,266 residents. The borders have not changed since that time. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old

county. On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of

county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the local Altafjorden. The name possibly comes from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

words or which refer to a

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

. It could also be the Norwegianization of the Finnish word () which refers to a "lowland". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Alten''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Alta''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 9 July 1976. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Azure, a spearhead argent"'' (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a spear head. The spear head has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the local river, sea, and mountains. The spear head is derived from the findings of quartzite spear heads dating back to the late

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

and found in the area. The quartzite was quarried in the municipality and tools made from it were used all over

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes () within the municipality of Alta. It is part of the Alta prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

History

The rock carvings at Alta, located near the Jiepmaluokta bay, dating from c. 4200 BC to 500 BC, are on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

list of

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s. The Komsa culture was named after Komsa Mountain in Alta municipality, where the first archeological remains of this culture were discovered. In the aftermath of the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

Kautokeino rebellion of 1852, rebel leaders Mons Aslaksen Somby and Aslak Jacobsen Hætta were decapitated at Elvebakken in what is now the town of Alta on 14 October 1854. Their bodies were buried in graves just outside the Kåfjord Church graveyard in the village of Kåfjord in Alta, but their heads were sent on to the ''Anatomisk Institute'' at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, where they were kept for more than a century as part of the university's skull collections. The two skulls were only relinquished by the university in 1985, following a controversy and protests by Sami activists, and were in November 1997 buried at the Kåfjord Church in Alta, at the same spot as their bodies were buried over 140 years earlier. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' used the Kåfjorden, an arm of Altafjorden, as a

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

, and was damaged here by attacking Allied warplanes. The town Alta was seriously destroyed by fire near the end of the World War II. It was rebuilt in subsequent years. The '' Altasaken'' in 1979 made headlines for weeks, as many people (especially

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and

environmentalists Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologi ...

) demonstrated and used civil disobedience to prevent the building of a dam on the river Altaelva in order to produce

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

. The dam was built, however, and the river still offers good

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

fishing. The

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

usually visits the river once in the summer to fish. The urban area made up of Bossekop, Elvebakken, and Bukta, also known collectively now as the town of Alta, became a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

on 1 January 2000. The population has been growing steadily for many years. On 31 August 2019, a sightseeing helicopter crashed in the mountains of Skoddevarre south of Alta.

Government

Alta Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services, welfare and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestre Finnmark District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Alta is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The mayors () of Alta: *1864–1865: Lars Follum *1868–1871: Jørgen Næss *1872–1875: O. Furu *1876–1879: Lars Follum *1880–1883: Lorents Holmgren *1887–1890: Hjalmar C. Borchrevink *1891–1901: Axel O. Hagemann *1902–1903: O. Andersen *1904-1904: Ole Sætrum (acting) *1905–1907: August Nielsen *1908–1913: Hans Rusten *1914-1914: B. Siqveland *1915–1916: Waldemar Johansen *1917–1919: Kristian Heitmann ( NSA) *1920–1922: Hans Rusten ( H) *1922–1924: Johan Martin Mjøen ( V) *1925-1925: B. K. Ottem ( H) *1926–1928: Kristian Heitmann ( NSA) *1929–1931: Paul Kjeldsberg ( Ap) *1932–1934: Paul Tangen ( LL) *1935–1937: B. Torbergsen ( Ap) *1937–1940: William Granaas ( NKP) *1941–1942: Odd Cappelen ( NS) *1942–1944: Sverre A. Lyng ( NS) *1945–1947: William Granaas ( NKP) *1948–1951: Daniel Heitmann ( Ap) *1952–1953: William Granaas ( NKP) *1953–1955: Hans Kolle (acting) ( Ap) *1955-1955: Hjalmar Bellika (acting) ( Ap) *1956–1959: Jan K. Lund ( Ap) *1960–1963: Karl Kivijervi ( Ap) *1964–1968: Torleif Johansen *1972–1978: Harald Mjøen ( Ap) *1979–1983: Jakob Aarøen ( V) *1983–1988: Odd Arne Rasmussen ( Ap) *1988–1991: Lars Bakken ( Ap) *1991–2001: Eva M. Nielsen ( Ap) *2001–2011: Geir Ove Bakken ( Ap) *2011–2015: Laila Davidsen ( H) *2015–present: Monica Nielsen ( Ap)

Geography

Alta Municipality covers , in western Finnmark, mostly situated along the Altafjord, including large tracts of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s, as well as parts of the

Finnmarksvidda Finnmarksvidda (; ) is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than . The plateau lies about above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark lies on the Finnmarksvidda. Geography From Alta Municipality in the west to the Varanger Peni ...

plateau. On its way from the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

down to the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

, the river Altaelva has carved out the Sautso canyon, one of the largest

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

s in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The large Altafjorden has several notable bays and fjord arms that branch off from it including Langfjorden, Jiepmaluokta, Kåfjorden, and Lille Kufjorden. Alta is based on the mainland of Norway, but it also includes parts of the islands of Stjernøya and Seiland. Seiland is the home of Seiland National Park where the Seilandsjøkelen glacier and the mountain Seilandstuva are located. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain ''Store Haldi''. Several of the notable lakes in Alta include

Iešjávri Iešjávri is a large lake in Finnmark county, Norway. The lake lies on the Finnmarksvidda plateau along the border of three municipalities: Alta, Kautokeino, and Karasjok. The lake is about northwest of the village of Karasjok, about northe ...

Juovvajávri or is a lake in Alta Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The lake lies on the Finnmarksvidda plateau about northeast of the lake Stuorajávri (Alta), Stuorajávri and about northwest of the large lake Iešjávri. See also *List of lake ...

, Kovvatnet, and Stuorajávri. In 2020, a landslide destroyed 8 houses.

Climate

Most people live in the town of Alta, stretching along the inner part of the fjord. Alta has a sheltered boreal climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc'', Trewartha ''Eolo'') with long and dark winters, but still much less cold than expected for latitude 70 North. Daytime mid-summer temperatures are often fairly similar to coastal southern Norway, and lowland areas in Alta are mostly sheltered from the winter storms, which can be strong on the coast north of Alta. The mean annual temperature is and the Alta valley does not have

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

but is dominated by closed-canopy forest of birch and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

. Precipitation is low, with a yearly average precipitation of only . The frequent clear skies are the reason why Alta early was chosen as an excellent location for studying the aurora borealis. The "

" is above the horizon from 18 May to 27 July, lasting a bit longer than the

from 26 November to 16 January. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below ) in spring is 14 May and average date for first freeze in autumn is 25 September at Alta Airport (1981–2010 average) giving a frost-free season of 133 days.

Transportation

Alta is a transportation center in Finnmark. Alta Airport served 334,132 passengers in 2009. There are direct flights to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, Vadsø, Kirkenes, Båtsfjord and Mehamn. The town of Alta also has

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

facilities in the town center, and European route E6 passes through Alta. The distance to southern Scandinavia is considerably shorter over

European route E45 European route E45 connects Norway and Italy, through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north–south European route (some east–west routes are longer). The route passes through Alta ...

and northern Finland.

Economy

Main activities in Alta include trading, small industry, education, and public service. The town is also famous for its

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

industry. Finnmark University College () is situated in Alta, and there is also a research institution (Norut NIBR Finnmark). The town has the northernmost ice hotel in Europe.

Sports

Alta is home to the

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

Alta IF. Cross-country skiing is very popular. Alta also has clubs for handball, track and field, alpine skiing, ice skating, taekwondo, and judo. The bicycle race Finnmark Offroad, with 700- and 300-kilometer long courses, starts and ends in Alta (). Alta is the starting point for the Finnmarksløpet, a 500- and 1000- kilometer sled dog race—The longest sled dog race in Europe.

Notable people

* Henry Woodfall Crowe (1832 in Kåfjord–1865), a British-Norwegian interpreter, translator, and author * Karl Akre (1840 in Alta – 1912), an educator and politician * Gustav Lund (1862 in Talvik – 1912), a Sámi travelling preacher known as the ''sled preacher'' * Egil Rasmussen (1903 in Bossekop – 1964), an author, literature critic, and pianist * Kirsten Osen (born 1928 in Alta), an

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, otologist, and academic * Johan Kjelsberg (1931 in Alta – 2012), a stage actor * Henny Moan (born 1936 in Talvik), a stage and cinema actress * Einar M. Bull (born 1942 in Alta), a diplomat * Tove Bull (born 1945 in Alta), a linguist and academic * Mikkel Gaup (born 1968 in Alta), a Sámi-Norwegian film and stage actor * Laila Davidsen (born 1974 in Alta), a politician and mayor of Alta from 2011 to 2015 * Inger Elin Utsi (born 1975), a Norwegian-Sami politician and actor who lives in Alta * Tommy Wirkola (born 1979 in Alta), a Norwegian film director, producer, and screenwriter of Finnish heritage

Sport

* Bjørn Wirkola (born 1943 in Alta), a former ski jumper * Ove Wisløff (born 1954 in Alta), a former breaststroke swimmer who competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

* Jarle Pedersen (born 1955 in Kåfjord), a retired speed skater and current coach of the Norwegian speed skating team * Morten Giæver (born 1982 in Alta), a football midfielder with over 350 club caps * Trond Fredrik Ludvigsen (born 1982 in Alta), a footballer with nearly 200 club caps * Tore Reginiussen (born 1986 in Alta), a footballer with over 350 club caps * Mads Reginiussen (born 1988 in Alta), a footballer with over 300 club caps * Finn Hågen Krogh (born 1990 in Alta), a cross-country skier * Anna Odine Strøm (born 1998 in Alta), a ski jumper

Twin towns – sister cities

Alta is twinned with: * Apatity, Russia * Boden, Sweden * Oulu, Finland (1948)

Notes

References

External links

Alta Tourist Information

Høgskolen i Finnmark (Finnmark University College)

Alta kommune

Finnmarksløpet-the northernmost sled dog race in the world!

Avinor:Alta Airport

Øytun folk high school, Alta. Outdoor life
{{authority control Municipalities of Finnmark 1863 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1863 Populated places of Arctic Norway