Finnmark

Finnmark, the most northern province of Norway, consists of a narrow strip of rocky coast-land, cleft by numerous bays and fjords. The area is 18,295 sq. m., of which three-fourths belong to the continent, the rest to the numerous islands which skirt its shores. The chief sources of wealth are fishing and reindeer breeding. Only very scanty crops of barley, potatoes, and a few other vegetables are raised. Pop. (1891) 29,345, principally Lapps. Hammerfest, the capital (70° 40' N. lat.), with near 3000 inhabitants, is the most northern town of Europe. See Du Chaillu's Land of the Midnight Sun (1881).