Editing Vardø Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Vardo Ort und Kirche.jpg|thumb|left|Vardø April 2001]]
The town of Vardø and the rural district around it was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). The law required that all towns be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was impossible to carry out for Vardø in 1838. (This also happened to the nearby towns of [[Hammerfest (town)|Hammerfest]] and [[Vadsø (town)|Vadsø]].) The rural district of Vardø (''Vardø landdistrikt'', which was renamed [[Båtsfjord Municipality]] in 1957) was officially separated from the town of Vardø in 1868. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the eastern part of Båtsfjord merged with the town of Vardø to create Vardø Municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed [[Troms og Finnmark]] county. Previously, it had been part of the old [[Finnmark]] county.<ref name="snl5">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Troms og Finnmark |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |publisher=[[Kunnskapsforlaget]] |url=https://snl.no/Troms_og_Finnmark |access-date=2019-12-26 |date=2019-12-24 |editor-last=Mæhlum |editor-first=Lars |language=no}}</ref> On 1 January 2024, the [[Troms og Finnmark]] county was divided and the municipality once again became part of [[Finnmark]] county.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-05 |title=Fylkesinndelingen fra 2024 |url=https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunestruktur/fylkesinndelingen-fra-2024/id2922222/ |publisher=Regjeringen.no |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The [[Old Norse]] form of the name was ''Vargøy''. The first element is ''vargr'' which means "[[wolf]]" and the last element is ''øy'' which means "[[island]]". The first element was later replaced (around 1500) with ''varða'' which means "[[cairn]]". Historically, the name was spelled ''Vardöe''.<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Vardø |url=http://snl.no/Vard%C3%B8 |access-date=2013-03-02 |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |author-link=Oluf Rygh |title=Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |year=1924 |edition=18 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=301 |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
{{main|Coat of arms of Vardø}}
The [[coat of arms]] dates to 1898. Its borders are drawn using the [[national colours]]: red, white, and blue. The border frames the shield, and the centre field shows a complex scene incorporating a [[sunrise]] with rays, two [[fishing vessel|fishing boats]] with crews, the [[sea]] with waves, and a large [[cod]]. In the [[chief (heraldry)|chief]] is the year of the town's foundation, 1789, together with the words ''"Vardöensis Insignia Urbis"'', meaning "the seal of the town of Vardø". In the lower part of the arms is the town motto: ''"Cedant Tenebræ Soli"'', meaning "Darkness shall give way to the sun."<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 June 2002 |title=Kommunevåpen |url=http://fotw.us/flags/no-20-02.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419130048/http://www.fotw.us/flags/no-20-02.html |archive-date=19 April 2008 |access-date=2008-12-13 |publisher=Flags of the World |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Vardø |access-date=2018-06-05 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref> This is a [http://www.vardo.kommune.no/upload/vardo/bilder/diverse/2008/vardohigh.jpg high resolution version] of the coat of arms.

===Churches===
[[File:Kirkegata Street in Vardø.jpg|left|thumb|The Kirkegata Street in Vardø with the church]]
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Vardø. It is part of the [[Varanger prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Vardø'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="2"|Vardø||[[Vardø Church]]||[[Vardø (town)|Vardø]]||1958
|-
|[[Vardø Chapel]]||[[Vardø (town)|Vardø]]||1908
|}