Information about Lyngen

The Lyngen commune is located in Troms between the Lyngenfjord and the Ullsfjord. Lyngseidet is the administrative centre, with its 854 inhabitants.

History

The first signs of civilization in Lyngen come from the young Stone Age (3000 BC – year 0). In this specific area though, the first signs are between 6000 and 7000 years old, which you can find in Karlsøy and Tromsø commune. The oldest written story about human beings in the north of Scandinavia come from a roman historic called Tacitus. In the book “Germania” from year 98 AC, he tells about the natives. They were good hunters, living in tents and the land they lived in was called Sápmi. Another person, Ottar, who was the North-Norwegian chief, most probably living in Malangsgapet, also told about the Scandinavian natives 890 AC. He tells that north from where he lives the land is deserted, except from where there are fishermen, bird catchers and hunters.

Sales of fish developed around 1100 AC and together with that started the establishment of fishing villages in the north. The rapid growth of trade of fish and grain in Europe (the Hanseatic League) helped settle the first Norwegian inhabitants. The first villages based on fish sale and trade in Northern –Troms were established around 1300 AC at Torsvåg, Kvitnes and Karlsøy. With this also the churches started being built from the 17th century, with the first in this area 1731 in Karnes.

Geography

Lyngen commune lies on a peninsula between the Lyngenfjord and the Ullsfjord in Troms. The administrative town is Lyngseidet, where the distance between the fjords narrows down to 3 kilometres.

The nature is dominated by the mountains, especially the massifs of the Lyngsalps, which also has the highest mountain top of 1833 metres above sea-level (Jiehkkevarri).

The name Lyngen refers to the Lyngenfjord and comes from the old Norwegian/Icelandic word “logn”, which means “quiet” and “calm”. The fjord is the biggest in this area and cuts 85 kilometres into the country.

In 2004, the Lyngsalps were crowned as a national treasure, with its spectacular landscape of clips, mountain peaks, its glaciers and tight valleys. This will secure the range of mountains and the landscape in the North– Norwegian nature.