text: Slide 21 of 31: Thanks to the transportation problems posed by its weather and geography (islands, mountains and fjords) Norwegians have become the masters of tunnel building. One of its most historic tunnels lies in its frigid north, connecting the Arctic island of Vardøya with the village of Svartnes on the Varanger Peninsula on the mainland. It opened in 1982 and is Norway’s oldest underwater tunnel, stretching 9,482 feet (2,890m) under the freezing waters of the Bussesundet strait.