Narvik

In Nordland county, an ice-free port on the Ofotfjord opposite the Lofoten Islands. It was founded (1887) as the Atlantic port for the Kiruna and Gällivare iron mines in Sweden and was known as Victoriahavn until 1898. The city is now a tourist center. In World War II, Narvik fell to the Germans when they invaded Norway on April 9, 1940. To prevent the Germans from using Narvik as a shipping base for Swedish iron ore, a British expeditionary force briefly occupied (May 28-June 9, 1940) the port.