Bergen, Norway

The city is located on the south-western coast of Norway, in the county of Hordaland, with its center situated between a group of mountains known collectively as de syv fjell ("the seven mountains"), although the number of mountains is a matter of definition. The first to name them "the seven mountains" was Ludvig Holberg, inspired by the seven hills of Rome. Bergen is recognized as the unofficial capital of the region known as West Norway, and also recognized and marketed as the gateway city to the world famous fjords of Norway and for that reason it has become Norway's largest – and one of Europe's largest cruise ship ports of call. Furthermore, Bergen's inter-municipal harbour is by far Norway's largest port and also one of Europe's largest ports according to the inter-municipal company Port of Bergen.

Trondheim, Norway

Trondheim is a city and municipality in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway.
The city of Trondheim was founded in 997. Trondheim is today a centre of education, technical and medical research, with around 25,000 students, and is the country's third-largest city, with 162,000 inhabitants in the city proper (January 2007).

Nidarosdomen (Nidaros Cathedral)

Oslo, early in the morning

Most of last week, Southern Norway enjoyed summer temperatures well above the normal for this early in June, even above 32 Celcuis (90F) in the South East, competing with the hot spots in the Mediterranean.

Hammerfest, Norway

Located at 70.664° N 23.69° E, Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by Honningsvåg, Norway, Barrow, Alaska and Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The validity of the claim depends upon one's definition of a city; Hammerfest is the world's northernmost settlement of more than 6,000 inhabitants. It is also the oldest town in North Norway.

Northern cities quarrel over wich one is northernmost

Picture from Hammerfest

Two Norwegian cities are quarreling over which one of them can claim the title of being the northernmost city in the world.

Hammerfest lies at just over 70 degrees north, while Honningsvåg lies at just under 71 degrees. For more than 200 years, though, Hammerfest has claimed that it's the northernmost city in the world.