Sør-Varanger Municipality
Also known as Máttá-Várjjat, Etelä-Varenki, Etelä-Varanki, Sor-Varanger, Matta-Varjjat
municipality in Finnmark, Norway
Key facts
- Country
- Norway
- County
- Finnmark
- District
- Øst-Finnmark
- Established
- 1 Jul 1858
- Preceded by
- Vadsø Municipality
- Administrative centre
- Kirkenes
- Mayor 2023
- Magnus Mæland ( H )
- Total
- 3,971.42 km (1,533.37 sq mi)
- Land
- 3,458.85 km (1,335.47 sq mi)
- Water
- 512.57 km (197.90 sq mi) 12.9%
- Rank
- # 6 in Norway
- Highest elevation
- 497.1 m (1,631 ft)
- Density
Article
Sør-Varanger (Northern Sami: Máttá-Várjjat; Kven: Etelä-Varenki; Russian: Сёр-Вара́нгер, romanized: Syor-Varánger) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kirkenes. Other settlements in the municipality include the villages of Bjørnevatn, Bugøynes, Elvenes, Grense Jakobselv, Hesseng, Jakobsnes, Neiden, and Sandnes. Located west of the Norway–Russia border, Sør-Varanger is the only Norwegian municipality that shares a land border with Russia, with the only legal border crossing at Storskog.
The 3,971-square-kilometre (1,533 sq mi) municipality is the 6th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sør-Varanger is the 112th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 10,063. The municipality's population density is 2.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (6.5/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 0.3% over the previous 10-year period.