Narvik is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Narvik. Other villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Beisfjord, Bjerkvik, Bj�rnfjell, Elveg�rd, H�kvik, Hergot, Straumsnes, and Vidrek. The Elveg�rdsmoen army camp is located near Bjerkvik.
Narvik is located on the shores of the Ofotfjorden. The municipality is part of the traditional district of Ofoten of Northern Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. The municipality of Narvik borders the municipality of Ballangen to the southwest, Evenes to the northwest, Bardu and Gratangen (in Troms county) to the north, and Norrbotten County (Lapland) in Sweden to the south and east.
The municipality of Narvik was established on 1 January 1902 when the village of Narvik received city status and was separated from the large municipality of Ankenes. Initially, the city-municipality of Narvik had 3,705 residents. On 1 January 1974, the municipality of Ankenes was merged with the city-municipality of Narvik, forming a new, larger municipality of Narvik. After the merger, the new municipality of Narvik had 19,780 residents. On 1 January 1999, a small area of Narvik (population: 9) was transferred to Evenes
The town is named after the old Narvik farm ("Narduigh" - 1567), since the town is built on its ground. The meaning of the first element is unknown, and the last element is vik which means "inlet".
Narvik was originally called Victoriahavn after Queen Victoria of England, however Sweden�s Crown Princess Victoria was also honoured.
The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 1 June 1951. The arms show a gold-coloured anchor on a red background. The anchor symbolises Narvik's status as an important port (the largest harbour in North Norway)
