The Altafjord (; ; ) is a

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 ...

Alta Municipality Alta (; ; ; ) is the most populated List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Alta (town), town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the ...

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,

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 long fjord stretches from the town of

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of US mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Association, ...

in the south to the islands of

Stjernøya or is an island in western Finnmark county, Norway. The island sits at the mouth of the Altafjorden on the south side of the Sørøysundet strait. It is divided among the municipalities of Loppa, Hasvik, and Alta. The highest point on th ...

and

Seiland or is a substantial island off Norway's northern coast, covering about . It is the eighth largest island in Norway proper, located in Finnmark county. It sits within the Caledonian orogenic zone, a mountain‑building belt formed during t ...

. The long river

Altaelva Altaelva (; ; ) is the third-longest river in Finnmark county, Norway. The river begins in the mountains and lakes in Kautokeino Municipality, near the border with Finnmark county and Finland, just south of Reisa National Park. The long river t ...

empties into the fjord at the town of Alta. At Stjernøya and Seiland islands, the fjord splits into two

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

s before emptying into the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

. Some of the larger side-branches off the main fjord include Langfjorden, Kåfjorden, and Korsfjorden. The fjord was historically known as "Altenfjord", and was referred to as such by British historians throughout most of the 20th century. Altafjord01

History

Prehistoric culture

A large number of prehistoric

rock carvings A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

have been found along the fjord, particularly at the bay Jiepmaluokta. These locations at Kåfjord, Jiepmaluokta, and Amtmannsnes are assigned a

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 ...

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 ...

. The petroglyphs are dated from 4,200 BC to

500 BC __NOTOC__ The year 500 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Republic it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Camerinus and Longus (or, less frequently, year 254 '' Ab urbe condita''). when the Anno ...

, based on old shorelines and nearby prehistoric settlements.

World War II

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 ...

there was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

naval base along the Kåfjorden, which branches off the main Altafjord. The German battleship ''

Tirpitz Tirpitz may refer to: People * Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930), German admiral ** Tirpitz Plan, a plan for Germany to achieve world power status through naval power Ships * German battleship ''Tirpitz'', a World War II-era Bismarck-class ...

'' was based at the village of Kåfjord (along the Kåfjorden). It was subject to attacks by British X class

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

s in September 1943 (

Operation Source Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – ''Tirpitz'', ''Scharnhorst'', and ''Lützow'' – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at K� ...

), and in 1944 to air strikes in April (

Operation Tungsten Operation Tungsten was a Second World War Royal Navy air raid that targeted the German battleship Tirpitz, German battleship ''Tirpitz''. The operation sought to damage or destroy ''Tirpitz'' at her base in Kåfjorden (Alta), Kaafjord in the ...

), July (

Operation Mascot Operation Mascot was an unsuccessful British carrier air raid conducted against the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' at her anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway, on 17 July 1944. The attack was one of a series of strikes against the battleship launc ...

), August (

Operation Goodwood Operation Goodwood was a British offensive during the Second World War, which took place between 18 and 20 July 1944 as part of the larger battle for Caen in Normandy, France. The objective of the operation was a limited attack to the south, ...

), and September (

Operation Paravane Operation Paravane was a British air raid of World War II that inflicted heavy damage on the German battleship ''Tirpitz'', at anchor in Kaafjord in the far north of German-occupied Norway. The attack was conducted on 15 September 1944 by ...

), after which ''Tirpitz'' was relocated to

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 ...

, where a final bombing raid in November (

Operation Catechism Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that destroyed the German battleship Tirpitz, German battleship ''Tirpitz''. It was conducted on 12 November 1944 by 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers that attacked the battleship at its ...

) sank the battleship.

References

External links

* {{authority control Alta, Norway Fjords of Finnmark