North Cape, Norway
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- For other uses, see North Cape.
North Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in northern Norway, in the municipality of Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at it is 2102.3 km from the North Pole. However, the neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually 1,457 metres further north. Moreover, both of these points are situated on an island, which means the northernmost point of mainland Europe is in fact Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden), about 20 km from the village of Mehamn.
The North Cape was named by English explorer Richard Chancellor in 1553 when he passed the cape in the search for a Northeast passage. From then on, it was occasionally visited by daring explorers who climbed the steep cliff face to the plateau; famous visitors include King Oscar II of Norway in 1873 and Thailand's King Chulalongkorn in 1907. Today, the North Cape is a major tourist attraction with an extensive tourist centre that houses a number of exhibits on the Cape's history.
One can easily get to the North Cape by travelling to Honningsvåg Airport Valan (Airport Code HVG), which is the nearest airport to Honningsvåg and The North Cape. The Norwegian airline Widerøe services the airport with routes to Tromsø and Oslo.
In 1943, the Battle of North Cape was fought in the Arctic Ocean off this cape.
The EuroVelo bicycle route EV1 starts at North Cape and heads to Sagres, Portugal, Portugal - a 8,196 km distance by land and sea.
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