page_title: Northern Norway
section_title: Languages
hierarchical_section_title: Northern Norway / Languages
caption_attribution_description: Bilingual inscriptions (Norwegian and Russian) are common in Kirkeness, Norway
context_page_description: Northern Norway is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway are Mo i Rana, Bodø, Narvik, Harstad, Tromsø and Alta. Northern Norway is often described as the land of the midnight sun and the land of the northern lights. Further north, halfway to the North Pole, is the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, traditionally not regarded as part of Northern Norway.
  The region is multi-cultural, housing not just Norwegians but also the indigenous Sami people, Norwegian Finns and Russian populations. The Norwegian language dominates in most of the area; Sami speakers are mainly found inland and in some of the fjord areas of Nordland, Troms and particularly Finnmark – though ethnic Sámi who do not speak the language are found more or less everywhere in the region. Finnish is spoken in only a few communities in the east of Finnmark.
context_section_description: The Northern Norwegian dialects share a common, musical intonation, different from the southern dialects of Norway. Apart from this, there is great variation in sound system, grammar and vocabulary. In general, one can say that the southernmost of the northern dialects, particularly in Helgeland and Salten, are the most distinct. Notably they cut grammar endings (like French relative to Italian). In areas of Finnmark, the dialects are somewhat more in line with standard written Norwegian (Bokmål, Nynorsk), particularly in those areas where Norwegian was primarily introduced by the school system as part of the assimilation process during the 20th century. In some inland valleys in the county of Troms, settlers from the inland of Southern Norway immigrated 200 years ago. Even today, these dialects have southern characteristics in intonation and vocabulary.
  Earlier, northern dialects had a low status in Norway, but recently they have been used extensively in song lyrics, poetry, in TV and radio. Today, anyone can use their dialects. This is not to suggest that no prejudices remain, however.
  Sami is spoken in three main dialects (or languages, depending on the definition): Southern Sami south of the Arctic Circle, Lule Sami mainly between Bodø and Narvik, and Northern Sami in the rest. Originally, Pite Sami and Ume Sami were spoken around Bodø, but these dialects are now extinct on the Norwegian side of the border. Eastern Sami was originally spoken in Neiden, close to Kirkenes, but it is more or less extinct. Overall, Northern Sami is by far the healthiest of the Sami languages today, primarily because it still has a relatively large number of first language speakers and maintains its dominance in core areas in Finnmark. Northern Sami is an official language (in addition to Norwegian) in the municipalities of Gáivuotna (Kåfjord), Kautokeino, Karasjok, Porsanger, Tana and Nesseby.
  The Finnish spoken in western regions, from Storfjord to Porsanger, is quite distinct, although comprehensible for people from Finland. Further east, around Vadsø and Kirkenes, the spoken Finnish resembles standard Finnish. People of Finnish descent in these eastern areas are also typically more likely to consider themselves as "Finnish Norwegians" rather than Kvens, arguing that the term Kven represents an attempt to cut them off from their Finnish roots. Finnish is official in addition to Sami and Norwegian in Porsanger municipality. Very few first language Finnish speakers remain in Northern Norway, and unlike Northern Sami, the Finnish language lacks a core region where it is still dominant in daily life.
  Coastal and fjord areas of Northern Norway have much in common with Western Norway, sometimes imagined in cultural terms as a shared "coastal identity". The topography and fjord landscape, the rich fisheries, the culture and even some aspects of the dialects (Vestnorsk) have clear similarities.
caption: Russian immigration and travel to Kirkenes has prompted the need for street names in Russian.
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