Editing Finnmark (section)

== Demographics ==
The old [[Stone Age]] [[Komsa]] culture is difficult to relate to the people living in Finnmark today. There are findings suggesting that the Sami people have been there for a long time, but exactly how long is unclear, some scholars {{who|date=November 2010}} claiming 8000 years but others {{who|date=November 2010}} only 2500 years. From the 10th century, the coastal areas have been populated and visited by ethnic Norwegians, and Finnmark became part of the kingdom.

The [[Sami people|Sami]] core areas in Norway are in Finnmark, where they constitute about one quarter of the total population. [[Kautokeino Municipality]], [[Karasjok Municipality]], [[Tana Municipality]], [[Nesseby Municipality]], and [[Porsanger Municipality]] in Finnmark county (and some other municipalities in other counties) have official names in the [[Sami languages|Sami language]]. Most municipalities in [[Sápmi (area)|Sápmi]] have unofficial names in Sámi as well.

In the 18th century and the 19th century, a number of Finnish-speaking [[immigrants]] settled in Finnmark. Since 1996, they have had minority status as [[Kven people]]. The town of [[Vadsø (town)|Vadsø]] ({{langx|fkv|Vesisaari}}) is often seen as the "Kven capital" in Finnmark.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-02-28 |title=Den kvenske folkevandringen til Troms og Finnmark |url=http://www.nordlys.no/debatt/kronikk/article1880185.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715034812/http://www.nordlys.no/debatt/kronikk/article1880185.ece |archive-date=2009-07-15 |access-date=2009-02-12 |publisher=nordlys.no |language=no}}</ref>

[[Lakselv]], in central Finnmark, is sometimes referred to as "meeting place for three tribes". After the collapse of the Soviet Union and severe economic troubles in the Russian economy during the 1990s, Russian immigrants and shoppers arrived in Kirkenes. Since the beginning of the [[European migrant crisis]] a number of Syrian refugees arrived in Kirkenes via Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haroon Siddique |date=18 November 2015 |title=Bicycles used by Syrian refugees to enter Norway from Russia to be destroyed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/bicycles-syrian-refugees-enter-norway-russia-destroyed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624054807/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/bicycles-syrian-refugees-enter-norway-russia-destroyed |archive-date=24 June 2016 |access-date=20 May 2016 |website=the Guardian}}</ref>
{{Clear}}