or is 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 ...

and commercial centre in

Målselv Municipality Målselv () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moen, Troms, Moen. The main commercial centre of the municipality is the ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

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 urban area was formally established as a town under Norwegian law in 2021 when the three villages of Andselv, Andslimoen, and Heggelia were merged together to form the new town of Bardufoss. The three neighboring villages are now considered as boroughs or neighborhoods within the larger town. Bardufoss is located in the

Målselvdalen Målselvdalen is the largest valley in Troms county, Norway. The river is located in Målselv Municipality. The river Målselva runs through the valley, ending at the Målselvfjorden (an arm off the main Malangen (fjord), Malangen fjord). The lo ...

valley near the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the

Barduelva ( Norwegian; ) or is a river in Troms county, Norway. The long river is located in Bardu Municipality and Målselv Municipality. The river flows from the lake Altevatnet northwest to the town of Setermoen, then north to the municipal border ...

and

Målselva The Målselva is a river in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The long river flows through the Målselvdalen valley and then empties into the Målselvfjorden, an arm of the Malangen fjord. The municipality and the valley through ...

rivers. It is located about north of the town of Narvik and about south of the city of Tromsø. Bardufoss Airport is located here. The town has a population (2023) of 2,752 and a

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 ...

of .

Military

Bardufoss has a civilian and military

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, Bardufoss Air Station, suitable for landing bomber aircraft, fighter jets such as F-16s, and other heavy planes. Bardufoss was also the home of the Norwegian Army's 6th division (dissolved in 2009). There is a street in Bardufoss that is named ''General Fleischers Veg'' in honour of Carl Gustav Fleischer. The airport was renamed Snowman International on 19 March 2011 by a Norwegian Minister after a commercial flight landed from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, to join the celebrations.

Nature

Bardufoss is covered in flora. The natural forest is mostly made up of

Downy birch ''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia ...

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

and

Grey alder ''Alnus incana'', the grey alder, tag alder or speckled alder, is a species of multi-stemmed, shrubby tree in the birch family, with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Tolerant of wetter soils, it can slowly spread w ...

. However,

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

has been planted in plantations since the middle part of the 20th century for economic reasons (timber). Bardufoss and its airport are used as settings in the TV drama ''

Outlier In statistics, an outlier is a data point that differs significantly from other observations. An outlier may be due to a variability in the measurement, an indication of novel data, or it may be the result of experimental error; the latter are ...

'' (2020).

Climate

Although not far from the coast, Bardufoss and the larger

valley are known for a continental climate, and hence, colder winters (but with less humidity and little wind) compared to the coastal areas. There is very reliable snow cover in winter, while summer days often are warmer than in Tromsø. There is on average 93 days each winter with daily low or colder, and 28 days with low or colder. The winter season sees on average 68 days with at least snow cover on the ground, 126 days with at least snow cover, and 179 days with at least snow cover. In the warm season there is on average 116 days per year when the daily average high reaches or warmer and 22 days with daily average high above . Precipitation is fairly moderate, there is on average 75 days each year with at least precipitation and 15 days per year with at least precipitation. This is based on data from Met.no with 1971-2000 as base period. Recent years have seen warming. Six of the monthly record highs are from after 2000. The November record low is from 2019.

References

External links

SAS: About BardufossExercise Cold Responseyr.no: Weather and climate statistics for Bardufoss
{{Authority control Målselv Populated places of Arctic Norway Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Troms 2021 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 2021