Editing Finnmark (section)

== Geography ==
[[File:View from Bárrás.jpg|thumb|Mountain landscape near [[Kvalsund (village)|Kvalsund]] in [[Hammerfest Municipality]]]]
[[File:Altafjord Norwegen.jpg|thumb|[[Altafjorden]], [[Alta Municipality|Alta]] (<!--Uploaded in-->2003)]]

Finnmark is Norway's northernmost and easternmost county ([[Svalbard]] is not considered a county).  By area, Finnmark is Norway's second-largest county, even larger than the neighboring country of [[Denmark]]. With a population of about 75,000, it is also the least populous Norwegian county. Finnmark has a total coastline of {{convert|6844|km}}, including {{convert|3155|km}} of coastline on the islands. As of 2000, nearly 12,300 people, 16.6% of the county's population, lived in the 100-meter belt along the coastline.

[[Knivskjellodden]] in [[Nordkapp Municipality]] (on the island of [[Magerøya]]) is sometimes considered Europe's northernmost point (on an island); [[Kinnarodden]] on [[Nordkinn Peninsula]] in [[Lebesby Municipality]] is the northernmost point on the European mainland. [[Honningsvåg]] in Finnmark claims to be world's northernmost city, and [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]] is the easternmost town in Norway and farther east than [[Istanbul]].

The coast is indented by large [[fjord]]s, some of which (in a strict sense) are false fjords, as they are not carved out by glaciers. Some of Norway's largest [[sea bird]] colonies are on the northern coast; the largest are ''Hjelmsøystauran'' on the island of [[Hjelmsøya]] in [[Måsøy Municipality]] and ''[[Gjesværstappan]]'' in [[Nordkapp Municipality]]. The highest point is atop the glacier [[Øksfjordjøkelen]], which has an area of {{convert|45|km2}}, and is in [[Loppa Municipality]]. Both Øksfjordjøkelen and [[Seilandsjøkelen|Seiland Glacier]] are in western Finnmark.

The Øksfjord [[plateau glacier]] [[Ice calving|calved]] directly into the sea (''Jøkelfjorden'') until 1900, the last glacier in mainland Norway to do so. Finnmark's central and eastern parts are generally less mountainous, and have no glaciers. The land east of Nordkapp is mostly below {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}}.

The nature varies from barren coastal areas facing the [[Barents Sea]] to more sheltered fjord areas and river valleys with gullies and tree vegetation. About half the county is above the [[tree line]], and large parts of the other half is covered with small [[Downy birch]].

The lushest areas are the [[Alta Municipality|Alta]] area and the [[Tana River (Norway)|Tana]] valleys, and in the east is the lowland area in the [[Pasvik]] valley in [[Sør-Varanger Municipality]], where the [[Scots pine|pine]] and [[Siberia]]n [[spruce]] forest is considered part of the Russian [[taiga]] vegetation. This valley has the highest density of [[Brown bear]]s in Norway, and is the only place in the country with a population of [[muskrat]]s, stemming from their introduction from their native [[North America]] into Europe in the early 20th century, which included their release in 293 localities all over Finland from 1919 onward, and then of about 1,000 muskrats on the [[Kola Peninsula]] during 1931–36. The animal spread and the observations of first 'possible' muskrats in the river [[Altaelva|Alta]] area in [[Troms]] were made around 1960, though the first actual specimen was not recovered until 1969, when a muskrat was captured alive in {{interlanguage link|Smalfjord|no}} in [[Tana Municipality]] (Lund & Wikan 1995). In 1970, another specimen was collected from [[Jarfjorden]] in [[Sør-Varanger Municipality]] in Finnmark (Pedersen 1970). Between 1980 and 1988 there were few observations of muskrats in Norway (Lund & Wikan 1995). Since 1988 there has been a rapid population increase in Sör-Varanger, and the muskrat has spread to almost every part of the municipality.<ref>Danell, Kjell. (1996). Introductions of aquatic rodents: lessons of the muskrat Ondatra zibethicus invasion. Wildlife Biology. 2. 213–220. 10.2981/wlb.1996.021.</ref> [[Lynx]] and [[moose]] are common in large parts of Finnmark, but rare on the coast.
[[File:North Norway.png|thumb|upright 1.2|Map showing coastline and rivers. The largest river, slightly to the right, is [[Tana River (Norway)|Tana]], and slightly to the left is [[Altaelva|Alta-Kautokeino]] river. Down to the right is [[lake Inari]] (Finland) from which goes the [[Pasvikdalen|Pasvik]] valley of the [[Pasvikelva]] river. Near the far left corner of the map is the green [[Målselvdalen|Målselv]] valley of [[Troms]], with the [[Målselva]] river.]]

The county's interior parts are part of the great [[Finnmarksvidda]] plateau, with an elevation of {{convert|300|to|400|m|abbr=on}}, with multiple [[List of lakes in Finnmark|lakes]] and river valleys.  The plateau is famous for its tens of thousands of reindeer owned by the Sámi, and swarms of mosquitoes in midsummer. Finnmarksvidda makes up 36% of the county's area. [[Stabbursdalen National Park]] ensures protection for the world's northernmost Scots pine forest.

The [[Tana River (Norway)|Tana River]], which partly defines the border with [[Finland]], gives the largest catch of salmon of all rivers in Europe, and also has the world record for [[Atlantic salmon]], {{convert|36|kg|abbr=on}}. In the east, the [[Pasvikelva]] defines the border with [[Russia]].