Bugøynes, Varangerfjord, Finnmark, Norway

Bugøynes is a small fishing village located along the Varangerfjord in Sør-Varanger municipality in Finnmark county in north east Norway and 310 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It was settled by Norwegians in the 17th century but later deserted before being repopulated by people from Finland in the 18th century.

Bugøynes is one of very few places in Finnmark that was not burnt and destroyed under Operation Nordlicht, a German operation during the Lapland War at the end of World War 2.

Before the road was built to Bugøynes in 1962, the main link between Bugøynes and the rest of the world was by sea. The most visited town in those days was Vadsø across the other side of the Varangerfjord. Although the town of Kirkenes, on the southern side of Varangerfjord, was the local administrative centre for Bugøynes, it did not become the centre for shopping until people could reach it by car.

Today most trade in this part of Finnmark takes place in Kirkenes but Bugøynes has industries include fishing, salmon and other fish processing, processing of reindeer meat and other game as well as slipway and machine workshops.

Date: 11th April 2010

Location: view from route E6 looking towards Bugøynes, Sør-Varanger, Finnmark, Norway