1.
Counties of Norway
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Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties, until 1918, they were known as amter. The counties form the first-level subdivisions of Norway and are divided into 428 municipalities. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly on national level, the capital Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality. In 2017 the government decided to abolish the current counties and to them with fewer, larger administrative regions. Below is a list of the Norwegian counties as they have been since 1919, note that the counties are administered both by appointees of the national government and to a lesser extent by their own elected bodies. The county numbers are from the numbering system ISO 3166-2, NO. The number 13 was dropped from the system when the city of Bergen was merged into Hordaland in 1972, from the consolidation to a single kingdom, Norway was divided into a number of geographic regions that had its own legislative assembly or Thing, such as Gulating and Frostating. The second-order subdivision of these regions was into fylker, such as Egdafylke and Hordafylke, in 1914, the historical term fylke was brought into use again to replace the term amt introduced during the union with Denmark. Current day counties often, but not necessarily, correspond to the historical areas. Finnmark, the Faroe Islands, the Orkney Islands, Shetland, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Iceland and Greenland were Norwegian skattland, from the end of the 12th century, Norway was divided into several syssel. The head of the various syssel was the syslemann, who represented the king locally, the following shows a reconstruction of the different syssel in Norway c. 1300, including sub-syssel where these seem established, from 1308, the term len in Norway signified an administrative region roughly equivalent to todays counties. The historic len was an important administrative entity during the period of Dano-Norwegian unification after their amalgamation as one state, which lasted for the period 1536–1814. At the beginning of the 16th century the political divisions were variable, up to 1660 the four principal len were headquartered at the major fortresses Bohus Fortress, Akershus Fortress, Bergenhus Fortress and the fortified city of Trondheim. The sub-regions corresponded to the districts for the Lutheran church in Norway. Båhus len Akershus len Trondheim len Bergenhus len These four principal len were in the 1530s divided into approximately 30 smaller regions. From that point forward through the beginning of the 17th century the number of subsidiary len was reduced, from 1660 Norway had nine principal len comprising 17 subsidiary len, Len written as län continues to be used as the administrative equivalent of county in Sweden to this day. Each len was governed by a lenman, with the royal decree of February 19,1662, each len was designated an amt and the lenmann was titled amtmann, from German Amt, reflecting the bias of the Danish court of that period
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
4.
List of regions of Norway
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Norway is commonly divided into five major geographical regions. These regions are geographical, and have no administrative purpose. However, in 2017 the government decided to abolish the current counties of Norway, other regions exist for various purposes of government. Administratively, the regions as listed above play less of a role – the major administrative units are at county level. The region Midt-Norge/Midt-Noreg is often used as a synonym to Trøndelag, the southernmost part of Nordland is also sometimes considered to be part of Central Norway. Similarly, Rogaland, or parts of Rogaland, is grouped with Southern Norway instead of Western Norway. Svalbard is not a county and is not usually considered part of Northern Norway, the governor of Svalbard reports to the Department of Justice, whereas the county governors report to the Department of Administration. Also Jan Mayen is an integrated body of Norway. Since 1995 it has been administered by the county governor of Nordland, bouvet Island in the south Atlantic Ocean, Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island in Antarctica are Norwegian dependencies. Regionalization and devolution, Proposed new regions of Norway
5.
Drammen
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Drammen is a city in Buskerud, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern, Drammen is the capital of the county of Buskerud. There are more than 63000 inhabitants in the municipality, Drammen and the surrounding communities are growing more than ever before. The city makes good use of the river and inland waterway called Drammensfjord, no city in the country has received as many awards for environmental and urban development as Drammen,6 national and 2 international prizes since 2003. The Old Norse form of the name was Drafn. The fjord is, however, probably named after the river Drammenselva, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 17 November 1960, the arms are blue with a gray/silver column on top of a foundation of rocks. A key and a Viking sword are crossed in the forming a x. It is based upon the old seal dating from 1723 for Bragernes, the motto for Bragernes was In Fide Et Justitia Fortitudo, and the items in the seal are referring to this, key = faith, sword = justice, column on rocks = strength. The municipality of Drammen was established on 1 January 1838, the rural municipality of Skoger was merged with the municipality of Drammen on 1 January 1964 and was transferred from Vestfold county to Buskerud county at the same time. The city itself has 66000 inhabitants, making it Norways ninth largest, Drammen is currently divided into eight districts. The largest rock carving at Åskollen depicts a moose, Drammen originally consisted of three small seaports, Bragernes and Strømsø and Tangen. For trade purposes, small seaports were placed under market towns, despite their geographical proximity, Bragernes was placed under Christiania and Strømsø under Tønsberg. For this reason, cooperation between the adjacent seaport towns was almost impossible, in 1662, a merger was proposed to unite Strømsø and Bragernes to form a market town with the name Frederiksstrøm. The proposal was rejected by Frederick III of Denmark, Bragernes received limited market town rights in 1715, and merged with Strømsø to gain status as a single city on 19 June 1811. Its geographical location made the city favorable for seafaring, shipbuilding, log driving, during 19th century, paper and pulp industries were developed. Large parts of the city were ruined in the fire of 12–13 July 1866. The Drammen Line opened in 1872 providing rail service between Drammen and Oslo, in 1909, Drammen got the first trolleybus system in Scandinavia, the Drammen trolleybus
6.
County governor (Norway)
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County Governor is a Norwegian government agency represented in 17 of the Norwegian counties responsible for a number of supervision and management duties. The Governor is the representative of the King and Government of Norway in each county, the County Governors are subordinate to the Ministry of Government Administration and Reform, but are also subordinate to other ministries in their respective duties. Governors are parts of the branch and thus formally appointed by the King in the cabinet meeting. The Governor is also responsible for matters including marriage, divorce. If a municipality do not have an economy, the Governor will enter the municipality into the ROBEK registry. The Governor of Svalbard has wider authorities, including the police authority, the County Governor has been an institution since the 12th century, though the institution has had many names, including sysselmann, lensmann, amtmann and now fylkesmann. Its present form was created in 1976 when the county municipality was demerged to form a separate, most governors are former politicians or have a background in the police force. It is uncommon for governors to hold an office for less than a decade, although almost all County Governors are former active politicians, it has been regarded as customary that an incumbent County Governor does not participate in partisan politics
7.
Norwegian Labour Party
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The Labour Party, formerly the Norwegian Labour Party, is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It was formerly the senior partner of the governing Red-Green Coalition, the party is currently led by Jonas Gahr Støre. The Labour Party is officially committed to social-democratic ideals and its slogan since the 1930s has been everyone shall take part, and the party traditionally seeks a strong welfare state, funded through taxes and duties. During the first Stoltenberg government, the policies were inspired by Tony Blairs New Labour. The party has frequently described as increasingly neoliberal since the 1980s. The Labour Party profiles itself as a party that subscribes to cooperation on a national as well as international level. Its youth wing is the Workers Youth League, the party is a full member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance, and is an observer member of the Socialist International. The Labour Party has always been a supporter of Norways NATO membership and has supported Norwegian membership in the European Union during two referendums. Founded in 1887, the party increased in support until it became the largest party in Norway in 1927. This year also saw the consolidation of surrounding the party during the 1920s following its membership in the Comintern from 1919 to 1923. It formed its first government in 1928, and has led the government for all but 16 years since 1935, from 1945 to 1961, the party had an absolute majority in the Norwegian parliament, the only time this has ever happened in Norwegian history. The domination by the Labour Party, during the 1960s and early 1970s, was broken by competition from the left. From the end of the 1970s however, the party started to lose voters to the right, in 2001 the party achieved its worst electoral results since 1924. Between 2005 and 2013, Labour returned to power after committing to an agreement with other parties in order to form a majority government. Since losing 9 seats in the 2013 election, Labour has been in opposition, the party was founded in 1887 in Arendal and first ran in elections to the Parliament of Norway in 1894. It entered Parliament in 1904 after the 1903 election, and steadily increased its vote until 1927, the party were members of Comintern, a Communist organisation, between 1918 and 1923. From the establishment of Vort Arbeide in 1884, the party had a growing and notable organisation of newspapers, the party press system eventually resulted in Norsk Arbeiderpresse. In January 1913 the party had 24 newspapers, and 6 more newspapers were founded in 1913, the party also had the periodical Det 20de Aarhundre
8.
Conservative Party of Norway
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The Conservative Party is a conservative and liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the party of the Norwegian centre-right, and the leading party in the governing Solberg cabinet. The current party leader is the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, in national elections in September 2013, voters ended eight years of Labour Party rule. After winning the elections, Solberg said her win was an election victory for the right-wing electoral bloc. The party advocates economic liberalism, reduction of taxes, and individual rights and it has historically been the most outspokenly pro-European Union party in Norway, supporting Norwegian membership during both the 1972 and 1994 referendums. The party generally supports semi-privatization through state-funded private services and tougher law, founded in 1884, the Conservative Party is the second oldest political party in Norway after the Liberal Party. In the interwar era, one of the goals for the party was to achieve a centre-right alliance against the growing labour movement. The Conservative Party of Norway was founded in 1884 after the implementation of parliamentarism in Norway, the jurist Emil Stang was elected the first chairman of the party. Stang underlined important principles for the work in Høyre, the party was to be a social party of reforms that worked within the constitutional frames set by a parliamentary democracy. In the 1981-election, Høyre got 31. 7% and it was the best election since 1924. The result in 1993 was 17% and this election was influenced by the EU membership issue which divided the Liberal Party. The 1997 parliamentary election resulted in the lowest support since 1945, Høyre has since then seen increased popular support, and got 21. 3% in the 1999 local elections and 21. 2% in the 2001 parliamentary election. Throughout the years Høyre has supported a policy that aims to stimulate growth in order to avoid unemployment, in the beginning of the 20th century Høyre took the initiative to construct a modern Norwegian communications network. After the devastating First World War it was important for Høyre to work for the reconstruction of sound, an example of this is the resolution Høyre passed in 1923 introducing old-age insurance. But because of the States finances it was not possible to continue this effort, Høyre was the leading party in opposition in the post-war years in Norway. Høyre fought against the Labour Partys regulating policy, Høyre wanted another future for Norway consisting of private initiative and creative forces. Høyre has been a protagonist in the construction of the system in this country. Additionally Høyre has advocated that the States activity must concentrate on its basic problems, during the post-war years Høyre has consolidated its position as a party with appeal to all parts of the nation
9.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
10.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
11.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
12.
Norwegian language
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Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as extinct languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them, as established by law and governmental policy, the two official forms of written Norwegian are Bokmål and Nynorsk. The official Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk in English. Two other written forms without official status also exist, one and it is regulated by the unofficial Norwegian Academy, which translates the name as Standard Norwegian. Nynorsk and Bokmål provide standards for how to write Norwegian, no standard of spoken Norwegian is officially sanctioned, and most Norwegians speak their own dialects in all circumstances. Thus, unlike in other countries, the use of any Norwegian dialect. Outside Eastern Norway, this variation is not used. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The unofficial form known as Riksmål is considered more conservative than Bokmål, Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A2005 poll indicates that 86. 3% use primarily Bokmål as their written language,5. 5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7. 5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus, 13% are frequently writing Nynorsk, though the majority speak dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in western Norway, though not in major urban areas, examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres, and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago, it also had strongholds in rural parts of Trøndelag. Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of four of the 19 Norwegian counties, NRK, the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all publications, and Nynorsk in 8%
13.
Norwegian krone
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The krone, plural kroner, is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. It is subdivided into 100 øre, which exist only electronically since 2012, the name translates into English as crown. The krone was the thirteenth most traded currency in the world by value in April 2010, the krone was introduced in 1875, replacing the Norwegian speciedaler/spesidaler at a rate of 4 kroner =1 speciedaler. In doing so, Norway joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which had established in 1873. After its dissolution, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all decided to keep the names of their respective, within the Scandinavian Monetary Union, the krone was on a gold standard of 2,480 kroner =1 kilogram of pure gold. This gold standard was restored between 1916 and 1920 and again in 1928 and it was suspended permanently in 1931, when a peg to the British pound of 19.9 kroner =1 pound was established. In 1939, Norway pegged the krone temporarily to the U. S. dollar at a rate of 4.4 kroner =1 dollar, nonetheless, Norway would continue to hold the Kingdoms gold reserves. During the German occupation in the Second World War, the krone was initially pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 1 krone =0.6 Reichsmark, after the war, a rate of 20 kroner =1 pound was established. The rate to the pound was maintained in 1949, when the pound devalued relative to the U. S. dollar, in 1875, coins were introduced in denominations of 10 and 50 øre and 1 and 10 kroner. These coins also bore the denomination in the currency, as 3,15. Between 1875 and 1878, the new coinage was introduced in full, in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25, and 50 øre and 1,2, and 10 kroner. The 1,2, and 5 øre were struck in bronze, the 10,25, and 50 øre and 1 and 2 kroner, in silver, the last gold coins were issued in 1910, silver was replaced by cupro-nickel from 1920. Between 1917 and 1921, iron replaced bronze. 1917 also saw the last issuance of 2 kroner coins, during the German occupation in the Second World War, zinc was used in place of cupro-nickel in 10,25, and 50 øre coins, and production of the 1 krone piece was suspended. In 1963,5 kroner coins were introduced, production of 1 and 2 øre coins ceased in 1972. The following year, the size of the 5 øre coin was reduced, production of the denomination ceased in 1982, ten-kroner coins were introduced in 1983. In 1992, the last 10 øre coins were minted, between 1994 and 1998, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of 50 øre,1,5,10, and 20 kroner. These are the coins which are currently legal tender, with the exception of the 50-øre coin which was withdrawn on 1 May 2012
14.
Gross domestic product
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Gross Domestic Product is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period. Nominal GDP estimates are used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region. The OECD defines GDP as a measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident and institutional units engaged in production. ”An IMF publication states that GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services - that is. Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of industry or sector of the economy. The ratio of GDP to the population of the region is the per capita GDP. William Petty came up with a concept of GDP to defend landlords against unfair taxation during warfare between the Dutch and the English between 1652 and 1674. Charles Davenant developed the method further in 1695, the modern concept of GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934. In this report, Kuznets warned against its use as a measure of welfare, after the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP became the main tool for measuring a countrys economy. The switch from GNP to GDP in the US was in 1991, the history of the concept of GDP should be distinguished from the history of changes in ways of estimating it. The value added by firms is relatively easy to calculate from their accounts, but the value added by the sector, by financial industries. GDP can be determined in three ways, all of which should, in principle, give the same result and they are the production approach, the income approach, or the expenditure approach. The most direct of the three is the approach, which sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The income approach works on the principle that the incomes of the factors must be equal to the value of their product. This approach mirrors the OECD definition given above, deduct intermediate consumption from gross value to obtain the gross value added. Gross value added = gross value of output – value of intermediate consumption, value of output = value of the total sales of goods and services plus value of changes in the inventories. The sum of the value added in the various economic activities is known as GDP at factor cost. GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes less subsidies on products = GDP at producer price, for measuring output of domestic product, economic activities are classified into various sectors. Subtracting each sectors intermediate consumption from gross output gives the GDP at factor cost, adding indirect tax minus subsidies in GDP at factor cost gives the GDP at producer prices
15.
Akershus
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Akershus is a county in Norway, bordering Hedmark, Oppland, Buskerud, Oslo, and Østfold, it also has a short border with Sweden. Akershus, with more than half a million inhabitants, is the second-largest county by population after Oslo, the county is named after Akershus Fortress. The county administration is in Oslo, which is not part of the county per se and this resulted after the transfer of the great municipality of Aker from Akershus County to Oslo in 1948. Embracing numerous suburbs of Oslo, notably Bærum, Akershus is one of the most densely populated areas in the country, the main national railway lines into Oslo run through Akershus with many junctions and stations such as Asker, Sandvika, Ski, and Lillestrøm. Akershus includes some of the lake Mjøsa and some of the river Glomma, the county also includes the historical place Eidsvoll,48 km north of Oslo, in which the national assembly ratified the Norwegian constitution in 1814. South of Eidsvoll is the airport of Oslo Airport at Gardermoen. Oslos previous international airport, Fornebu, is located in Akershus. The estate of the prince is located in Asker. The county has two hospitals, Akershus University Hospital and Sykehuset Asker og Bærum. The main road from continental Europe, E6, enters Akershus in the south, and runs through eastern Oslo, further to Gardermoen, E18 enters Akershus in the south-east, merges for a short stretch with E6 at Vinterbro in Ås, before running under central Oslo. E18 then turns south-west through Bærum and Asker before entering Buskerud County north of Drammen, e16 runs from the intersection with E18 in Sandvika into Buskerud County west of Sollihøgda. In 1662, Akershus became an Amt, and in 1685, Buskerud was separated from Akershus, in 1768, Hedmark and Oppland were also separated from Akershus to become Oplandenes Amt. In 1842, the city of Christiania was made a separate Amt, in 1919, the term Amt was changed to Fylke. In 1948, Aker, the greatest and the most populous municipality of Akershus, was transferred to the county of Oslo, the county is named after Akershus Fortress. The fortress was built in 1299, and the meaning of the name is the house of Aker, the name is somewhat misleading now, since the fortress is now outside Akershus. In fact, the administration of Akershus sits outside the county, as well, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. It shows a gable from Akershus Fortress, Akershus has a total of 22 municipalities, Akershus county website Media related to Akershus at Wikimedia Commons Akershus travel guide from Wikivoyage
16.
Oslo
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Oslo is the capital and the most populous city in Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality, founded in the year 1040, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814, after being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Fortress during the reign of Christian IV of Denmark and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838, following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, at which time its original Norwegian name was restored. Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway, the city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the worlds largest shipping companies, shipbrokers. Oslo is a city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme. Oslo is considered a city and ranked Beta World City in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group. It was ranked one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, as of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, while the population of the citys urban area was 942,084. The metropolitan area had an population of 1.71 million. The population was during the early 2000 increasing at record rates and this growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. The immigrant population in the city is growing faster than the Norwegian population. As of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, the urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality into the surrounding county of Akershus, the total population of this agglomeration is 942,084. To the north and east, wide forested hills rise above the city giving the location the shape of a giant amphitheatre. The urban municipality of Oslo and county of Oslo are two parts of the entity, making Oslo the only city in Norway where two administrative levels are integrated
17.
Oppland
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Oppland is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer, Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway. Innlandet is one of several names proposed for an administrative region consisting of Hedmark. The two counties are slated to be re-merged after having split in 1781. Historically, the region was known as Opplandene. Oppland extends from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen, the county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are the Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland and Land, Oppland includes the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik, Otta, and Fagernes, and Norways two highest mountains, Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen, Valdres and the Gudbrand Valley being popular attractions. The Gudbrand Valley surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the udes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna River and it is a well known place for skiing and winter sports. The main population centres in this area are Beitostølen and Fagernes, eight of the ten highest mountains in Norway are located in the western part of Oppland. In Norse times the inner parts of Norway were called Upplǫnd the upper countries, the first element is upp upper. The last element is lǫnd, the form of land. In 1757 the inner parts of the great Akershus amt were separated and this was divided in 1781 into Christians Amt and Hedemarkens Amt. The name/form was changed to Kristians Amt in 1877, in 1919 the name Kristians Amt was changed to Opland fylke, and the form Oppland was settled in 1950. The coat of arms were granted in 1989, and it shows two Pulsatilla vernalis, Oppland County has a total of 26 municipalities, Media related to Oppland at Wikimedia Commons Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
18.
Sogn og Fjordane
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Sogn og Fjordane is a county in western Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the village of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality, the largest town in the county is Førde. Although Sogn og Fjordane has some industry, predominantly hydroelectricity and aluminium, Sogn og Fjordane is also home to the Urnes Stave Church and the Nærøyfjord, which are both listed by UNESCO as world heritage sites. The Sogn og Fjordane University College has campuses in Sogndal, Sandane, the name Sogn og Fjordane was created in 1919, a literal translation is, Sogn and the fjords. The first element is the name of the region of Sogn, the last element is the plural definite form of fjord, which refers to the two regions in the county called Nordfjord and Sunnfjord in the northern and central parts of the county. Prior to 1919, the name of the county was Nordre Bergenhus amt which meant northern Bergenhus amt, the coat of arms of Sogn og Fjordane was granted on 23 September 1983. The arms show the layout of the county, three large blue fjords protruding into the white colored land. The three fjords represent the three regions of the county, Nordfjord, Sunnfjord, and Sogn, nearly all villages and towns are situated along one of these fjords and the name of the county is based on the fjords. The county is divided into three traditional districts. These are Sogn, Sunnfjord, and Nordfjord, Sogn surrounds Sognefjorden from Solund on the offshore island of Sula in the North Sea to the village of Skjolden in Luster along Lustrafjorden, a branch of the Sognefjord. The total length is 204 kilometres, the middle district of Sunnfjord actually has two main fjords, Førdefjorden and Dalsfjorden. Sogn og Fjordane is the county in Norway in which all municipalities have declared Nynorsk to be their official written form of the Norwegian language. The county currently consists of the two counties, Firdafylke and Sygnafylke. These both were formed in the Middle Ages under the Gulating government and they were merged with Hordafylke and Sunnmørafylke to form the Bergenhus len in the late Middle Ages. The Bergenhus len was one of four len in Norway and it was administered from the Bergenhus Fortress in the city of Bergen. On 19 February 1662, a decree changed the name to Bergenhus amt. The Sunnmøre region was moved to Romsdalen amt in 1689, later, in 1763, the amt was divided in half creating, Nordre Bergenhus and Søndre Bergenhus. Later, on 1 January 1919, Nordre Bergenhus amt was renamed Sogn og Fjordane fylke during a period of time when many location names in Norway were changed, a county is the chief local administrative area in Norway
19.
Hordaland
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Hordaland is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population, the county government is the Hordaland County Municipality which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county apart from Hordaland, Hordaland is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The first element is the genitive case of hǫrðar, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is land which means land or region in the Norwegian language, until 1919 the name of the county was Søndre Bergenhus amt which meant southern Bergenhus amt. The flag of Hordaland shows two golden axes and a crown in red, the flag is a banner of the coat of arms derived from the old seal of the guild of St. Olav from Onarheim in Tysnes municipality. This seal was used by the delegates of Sunnhordland in 1344 on the document to install king Haakon V of Norway and it was thus the oldest symbol used for the region and adapted as the arms and flag in 1961. The symbols refer to the saint of the guild, Saint Olav, King of Norway. The coat-of-arms were officially granted on 1 December 1961 and they were designed by Magnus Hardeland, but the general design had been originally used in the Sunnhordland region during the 14th century. In the early 20th century, leaders of the county using the old arms as a symbol for the county once again. The arms are on a red background and consist of two golden axes that are crossed with a crown above them. Hordaland county has been around for more than one thousand years, since the 7th century, the area was made up of many petty kingdoms under the Gulating and was known as Hordafylke since around the year 900. In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into four len, the Bergenhus len was headquartered in Bergen and encompassed much of western and northern Norway. In 1662, the lens were replaced by amts, Bergenhus amt originally consisted of the present-day areas of Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane, and Sunnmøre and the far northern Nordlandene amt was subordinate to Bergenhus. In the 1680s, Nordlandene and Sunnmøre were split from Bergenhus, in 1763, the amt was divided into northern and southern parts, Nordre Bergenhus amt and Søndre Bergenhus amt. When the amt was split, the present day municipality of Gulen was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt, in 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part. Søndre Bergenhus amt was renamed Hordaland fylke in 1919, the city of Bergen was classified as a city-county from 1831–1972. During that time in 1915, the municipality of Årstad was annexed into Bergen, in 1972, the neighboring municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg and Åsane were annexed into the city of Bergen
20.
Telemark
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Telemark is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien, until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt. The county is located in southeastern Norway, extending from Hardangervidda to the Skagerrak coast, the coastline extends from Langesundsfjorden to Gjernestangen at the border with Aust-Agder. Telemark has a broken and heterogeneous landscape, including many hills. The international road E18 goes through the parts of Telemark, namely Grenland. E134, another important motorway and the fastest route between Oslo and Bergen, goes through the municipalities of Vinje, Tokke, Kviteseid, Seljord, Hjartdal, rV36, stretching from Porsgrunn to Seljord, links the E18 and E134 motorways. Telemark is well served by railways, the Sørlandet Line runs through the traditional districts of Vestmar and Midt-Telemark, serving the municipalities of Drangedal, Nome, Bø and Sauherad. Grenland is primarily served by the Vestfold Line, but also has connections through the Bratsberg Line which runs between Skien and Notodden, geiteryggen Airport in Skien offers flights to Bergen and Stavanger. From Langesund, Fjordline operates ferry services to Sweden and Denmark, the main bus lines in the county are operated by Telemark Bilruter, serving western and middle parts of the county, and Nettbuss which serves the middle, eastern and southern parts of the county. Drangedal Bilruter serves the Vestmar region, the largest population centres are Skien, Porsgrunn, Notodden, Rjukan and Kragerø. Other important places are Bø, Seljord, Fyresdal and Vinje, the Norse form of the name was Þelamǫrk. The first element is the genitive case of þelir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is mǫrk woodland, borderland, march, the term originally was applied to Upper Telemark. Until 1919, the county was called Bratsberg amt, the amt was named after the farm Bratsberg, since this was the seat of the amtmann. The first element is the case of brattr m steep mountain. Telemark lent its name to Telemark skiing, a style invented by Sondre Norheim, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. It shows an old type of axe, significant for the county. The film The Heroes of Telemark is loosely based on the Norwegian heavy water sabotage, born in Vestfjørddalen Theodor Kittelsen, artist born in Kragerø Vidkun Quisling, politician, collaborationist leader during World War II
21.
Vestfold
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Vestfold is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg, and the largest city is Sandefjord, with the exception of Oslo county, Vestfold is the smallest county in Norway by area. Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates, the river Numedalslågen runs through the county. Many islands are located at the coast, Vestfold is mostly dominated by lowland and is among the best agricultural areas of Norway. Winters last about three months, while pleasant summer temperatures last from May to September, with a July average high of 17 °C, Vestfold is traditionally known for shipping and sailing. Sandefjord was formerly a headquarters for the Norwegian whaling fleet, the coastal towns of Vestfold now engage in fishing and shipbuilding. Some lumbering is carried on in the interior, the area also includes some of the best farmland in Norway. Vestfold is the county in which all municipalities have declared Bokmål to be their sole official written form of the Norwegian language. Vestfold is the old name of the region which was revived in modern times, Fold was the old name of the Oslofjord, and the meaning of the name Vestfold is the region west of the Fold. Before 1919, the county was called Jarlsberg og Larvik Amt, the amt was created in 1821, consisting of the two old counties of Jarlsberg and Larvik. In the Viking age, Vestfold also referred to Eiker, Drammen, Kongsberg, Lier, Vestfold is mentioned for the first time in a written source in 813, when Danish kings were in Vestfold to quell an uprising amongst the Fürsts. There may have been as many as six political centers in Vestfold, at that time Kaupang, which was located in Tjølling near Larvik, had been functioning for decades and had a chieftain. Kaupang, which dates from the Viking Era, is believed to be the first town in Norway, at Borre, there was a site for another chieftain. That site held chieftains for more than one hundred years prior to 813, the stone mounds at Mølen have been dated to the Viking Age. The mounds at Haugar in present-day Tønsbergs town centre have been dated to the Viking period, at Farmannshaugen in Sem there seems to have been activity at the time, while activity at Oseberghaugen and Gokstadhaugen dates from a few decades later. Kaupang is mentioned under the name of Skiringssal in Ottars tales, by the 10th century, the local kings had established themselves. The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheim i Sem, the farm Haugar became the seat for Haugating, the Thing for Vestfold and one of Norways most important place for the proclamation of kings. The family of Harald Fairhair, who was most likely the first king of Norway, is said to have come from this area, the Danish kings seem to have tried to control the region until the 13th century
22.
Oslofjord
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The Oslofjord is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, the Oslofjord is not a fjord in the geological sense - in Norwegian the term fjord can refer to a wide range of waterways. The bay is divided into the inner and outer Oslofjord at the point of the 17 by 1 kilometre Drøbak Sound, in the period 1624-1925 the name of the fjord was Kristianiafjorden - since this was the name of the capital in this period. The old Norse name of the fjord was Fold, giving names to the counties of Vestfold and Østfold -, each of the islands in the innermost part of the fjord has its own identity and distinguishing history. Among them are Hovedøya, Lindøya, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Gressholmen and these islands can be reached with the Oslo-boats from Vippetangen. Hovedøya contains monastery ruins, Gressholmen for its rabbits, Nakholmen, Bleikøya, Lindøya for their cabins at the water’s edge. The inner part of the Oslofjord has steep and forest covered hill slopes down towards the fjord, the Oslofjord has Norway’s highest all year temperature,7.5 degrees Celsius. February is the coldest month in the fjord with -1.3 degrees Celsius, the islands in the middle of the fjord are among Norway’s warmest with high summer temperatures and moderate winters. Oslofjord’s relatively high temperatures enable various flora to flourish, the oldest settlements in the area surrounding the Oslofjord date from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. It was here on the eastern and western shores that three of the best preserved Viking ships were unearthed, in historical times, this bay was known by the current name of the region, Viken. Oslofjord has been an important body of water due to its proximity to Oslo. During WWII, there were German installations at several points on its coastline, one installation in Hovedøya held 1,100 Wehrmacht soldiers and later women deemed Nazi collaborators at the National Internment Camp for Women in Hovedøya. Norwegian painter Edvard Munch had a cottage and studio in Åsgårdstrand on the fjord, the fjord was the scene of a key event in the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the Battle of Drøbak Sound. The invasion included a landing of 1,000 troops transported by ship to Oslo. Colonel Eriksen, Commander of the Oscarsborg fortress near Drøbak, mainly maintained for historical purposes, the fortresss resistance blocked the route to Oslo, thus delaying the rest of the group long enough for the royal family, government, parliament, and national treasury to be evacuated. The entire population situated around the Oslofjord including Oslo is about 1.96 million, more than 40% of Norway’s population resides under 45 minutes of driving from the Oslofjord. The Oslofjord has Norway’s busiest traffic of ferries and cargo boats, even though the Oslofjord contains hundreds of populated islands, most of the population of the fjord resides on the mainland. In the summer there are boats of all sizes on the fjord, and it is possible to go kayaking, canoeing, fishing, the Oslofjord is one of the nine venues of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship
23.
Hardangervidda
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Hardangervidda is a mountain plateau in central southern Norway, covering parts of the counties of Buskerud, Hordaland and Telemark. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold alpine climate. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park, Hardangervidda is a popular tourist and leisure destination, and it is ideal for many outdoor activities. The region is divided administratively between the counties of Buskerud, Hordaland, and Telemark, the plateau is the largest peneplain in Europe, covering an area of about 6,500 km2 at an average elevation of 1,100 m. The highest point on the plateau is the Sandfloegga, which reaches a height of 1,721 m, the landscape of the Hardangervidda is characterised by barren, treeless moorland interrupted by numerous pools, lakes, rivers and streams. There are significant differences between the west side, which is dominated by rocky terrain and expanses of rock, and the east side. The climate also varies between the two sides, it is considerably wetter on the west side than on the east, with over 1,000 mm per year recorded in some parts, the prominent peak of Hårteigen 1,690 m is visible across much of the plateau. Much of the Hardangerviddas geology is extremely ancient, the rolling fells of the Hardangervidda are the remnants of mountains that were worn down by the action of glaciers during the Ice Ages. The bedrock is mainly of Precambrian and Cambro-Silurian origin, the whole of the Hardangervidda is above the tree line. Its alpine climate enables the presence of species of arctic animals. Its wild reindeer herds are among the largest in the world, with some 15,000 animals recorded in 1996, on August 26,2016,323 were killed by lightning, prompting a Norwegian Environment Agency discussion on whether to leave so many corpses in the open. Ciclosporin, an immunosuppressant drug widely used in organ transplantation to prevent rejection, was initially isolated from the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum, found in a soil sample obtained in 1969 from Hardangervidda. With the predicted warming, Hardangervidda could again be largely wooded, the Hardangervidda has been occupied for thousands of years, several hundred nomadic stone age settlements have been found in the area, most likely related to the migration of the reindeer. Ancient trails cross the plateau, linking western and eastern Norway, one example is the Nordmannsslepa linking Eidfjord and Veggli in the Numedal valley with Hol and Uvdal. It is still a key route between Oslo and Bergen. The Bergensbanen railway line and the main Highway 7 cross the plateau, in 1981, much of the Hardangervidda was designated a national park, Norways largest at 3,422 km2. The parks boundaries stretch from Numedal and Uvdal in the east and Røvelseggi, the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association maintains a comprehensive network of huts and paths across the plateau. It is a destination for hiking, climbing and fishing
24.
Old Norse language
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Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during about the 9th to 13th centuries. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century, Old Norse was divided into three dialects, Old West Norse, Old East Norse and Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present day Denmark and Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. It developed its own features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, another term used, used especially commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál. In some instances the term Old Norse refers specifically to Old West Norse, the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, settlements in Kievan Rus, eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, in Kievan Rus, it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has heavily influenced by East Norse. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots and it also influenced the development of the Norman language, and through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French. Various other languages, which are not closely related, have heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman dialects, Scottish Gaelic. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi, of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system, contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the phonemes, has changed at least as much as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, although Swedish, Danish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain asymmetric mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, the languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders
25.
Drammenselva
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Drammenselva is a river in Buskerud county, southeastern Norway. Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a basin of about 17,000 square kilometres. Drammen Rivers total length is 308 kilometres making it the fifth longest river in Norway and its 48 km course runs from Tyrifjorden in the north to Drammensfjord in the south, where it cuts through the centre of the city of Drammen. The Drammen River gathers inflow from several streams and rivers, the largest include the Simoa River. The whole drainage system includes the Drammenselva as the lowest part is known as Drammensvassdraget and is located in the provinces of Oppland. For centuries the river was used for log driving, transporting timber from the forests in Eiker to the paper mills. From the 1850s onwards, many steam-powered sawmills and planing mills were established along the section of the river. During the 20th century this activity caused the river to be heavily polluted, however, the majority of the paper and pulp factories in Drammen shut down in the 1960s and 1970s, and the river is now clean and safe. On its way to the sea, Drammen River passes a series of rapids, the largest are Vikerfoss, Geithusfoss, Kattfoss, Gravfoss, Embretsfoss, Døvikfoss and Hellefoss. There are a number of plants on the Drammen River several with dams. The owner and operator is EB Kraftproduksjon which is headquartered in Drammen, the power company is owned by Buskerud Energy Power Generation. The area between the City and the Holmen bridges in Drammen has also developed into parkland, and is now known as Bragernes Riverside Park. Hundreds of trees and thousands of perennials have been planted here in order to create a pleasant leisure area, today Drammenselva is used for recreational purposes, and is known for its excellent salmon fishing. It is the site of the annual Drammen River Festival, the festival features music concerts, dragon boats, raft racing and bathtub rowing. More than 100 different events take place during the River Festival
26.
Modum
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Modum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund, the municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838. The area has a tradition of skiing with several famous skiers. Modum is home to one of the largest ski jumping hills in the world, the hill record, established in 2011 is an amazing jump of 246.5 metres. The municipality is named after the old Modum farm, since the first church was built here, the first element is móða which means river and the last element is heimr which means home, homestead, or farm. The name of the farm was changed to Buskerud. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 15 March 1985. The arms show three wavy silver lines “party per bend sinister” on a blue background and they represent the three main rivers in the municipality, Drammenselva, Snarumselva, and Simoa and the colour blue represents Blaafarveværket. The municipality is bordered in the north by Krødsherad and Ringerike, in the east by Hole and Lier, in the south by Øvre Eiker, the municipality has three main villages, Åmot, Geithus, and the municipality administrative center of Vikersund. Åmot is the point for the Kunstnerdal. Here is where the Blaafarveværket is located and that includes a cobalt museum, art institutions, and a children’s barn yard. Hanson, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly Nils P. no
27.
Ancient Diocese of Hamar
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The former Norwegian Catholic diocese of Hamar existed from 1152 to 1542, when the Protestant Reformation turned it into a bishoric of the Lutheran state church. The cathedral see was at Hamar, and the diocese included the counties of Hedmark, Oppland, and it also included some parts of Telemark. It was formed in 1152 out of the diocese of Oslo and he began to build the now ruined cathedral of Christ Church, which was completed about the time of Bishop Paul. Bishop Thorfinn was exiled and died at Ter Doest Cistercian Abbey in Lissewege, Bishop Jörund was transferred to the archdiocese of Trondhjem. A provincial council was held in 1380, the last Catholic bishop, Mogens Lauritssøn, was taken prisoner in his castle at Hamar by Truid Ulfstand, a Danish noble, and sent to Antvorskov in Denmark, where he was held until his death in 1542. There were at Hamar a cathedral chapter with ten canons, a school, a Dominican Priory of St. Olaf, the entry cites, J. M. Hansen, Hamar og dets Biskopper, Hamar, Th. A. Hansens Bogtrykkeri,1866. Til 50 aars jubilæt 21 Mars 1899, Hamar, L. Larsen, Axel Magnussen, christian C. A. Lange, De norske Klostres Historie i Middelaldern, Anden omarbeidede Udgave, Christiania, Chr. Tønsbergs Forlag,1856, pages 374-77 and 389-391, Historisk Tidsskrift, 3rd series, Volume I, Christiania,1890, pages 113-140, 244-269, 277-334, Volume III, Christiania,1895, pages 379-411
28.
Reformation
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The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
29.
Hurum
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Hurum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village Sætre, the municipality of Hurum was established on 1 January 1838. The small village of Holmsbu was granted town status in 1847 and it lost its town status on 1 January 1964. Hurum was once suggested as the location for the new airport of Norway. The plan was, however, abandoned, due to fears of too much fog in Hurum, and it is famous also because it is the place where Morten Harket, the voice of the Norwegian band a-ha, lives. The Old Norse form of the name was Húðrimar, the meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is the plural form of rimi which means ridge. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 2 February 1979. The arms show two blue lines on a silver background. This was chosen because the municipality is on a peninsula between two fjords, Oslofjord and Drammensfjord, at the same time the arms are based on the arms of the Huitfeldt family, who played a major role in the local history. The family used a bend as arms. The municipality borders Røyken to the north, to the west the coastline is located close to the eastern coast of Vestfold with Svelvik. It is connected to the side of the Oslofjord via Oslofjordtunnel. The tunnel is 7.2 kilometres long and connects Hurumhalvøya to Akershus county, Hurum is located on the southern part of Hurumhalvøya, which is the peninsula between the Oslofjord and Drammensfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Sætre, which together with Tofte are one of the two most populated villages in Hurum, Hurum Church is the parish church for Hurum. This is a medieval era church dating from ca, the edifice is constructed of stone and has 150 seats. The original church was ravaged by fire the night after Christmas Day 1686, the following year the church received a new roof and turret. In 1849 the church was extensively rebuilt, the interior has undergone a number of changes in the course of time. The cemetery is surrounded by wall and has a chapel from 1938
30.
Hardanger
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Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and Eidfjorden. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam, and Jondal, in the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hardanger was a petty kingdom with its capital at Kinsarvik. The area is dominated by the vast Hardangervidda plateau in the east, the Old Norse form of the name was Harðangr. The first element could be harðr meaning hard, or it could be referring to the Charudes, the last element is angr tight fjord. The region is one of Norways most important sources of fruit and constitutes approximately 40% of the fruit production, including apple, plum, pear, cherry. Apples have been cultivated in Hardanger since the 14th century, the experience brought by English monks who first arrived at Lyse Abbey in 1146. The climate, soil and seasonal conditions of the region are believed to be beneficial to the growth of apples. In 2005, juice produced from Hardanger apples became Norways third product to be granted protection of origin name, lekves efforts earned him a top 3 finalist nomination for the Bygdeutviklingsprisen, awarded by Innovasjon Norge. Krotekake is a type of unique to the region. Hardanger embroidery is a type of whitework that takes its name from that region and it is made with geometric designs of kloster, ships, diamonds, and other embroidery techniques. It is worked on Hardanger or linen fabric which has a count of 22 to 29 threads per inch, traditionally it is worked on white fabric with white cotton thread but in recent years other colors and threads are popular. Norwegian bunads from that region often feature this embroidery on the bottom of the white apron, Hardanger also lends its name to the Hardanger fiddle which was originally produced there
31.
Hallingdal
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Hallingdal is a valley as well as a traditional district located in Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities, Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål, Hallingdal is one of the major valleys of eastern Norway, on an area of 5,830 square kilometers. Hallingdal lies in the part of the county of Buskerud. The valley stretches from Gulsvik by Lake Krøderen to the border with Hordaland, central to the geography is relatively flat mountain area which lies from 700 to 1100 meters above sea level. The valley is V-shaped and is drained by the Hallingdal River which originates in the parts of Hardangervidda. The Old Norse form of the name was Haddingjadalr, the first recorded case beginning with Hall- is from 1443. The first element seems to be the case of the name of the people Haddingjar or of the male name Haddingi. In Flateyjarbók, a man named Haddingr is mentioned as the king of Hallingdal, compare with the first element in Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrand Valley. In both cases the name is derived from the word haddr, meaning womans hair and the name can consequently be interpreted as meaning the long haired ones. The last element is dalr which means valley, dale, from early on, Hallingdal prospered from trading with iron, produced from local marshlands, and developed trading routes throughout the Iron Age. In later centuries, Hallingdal farmers traded cattle over the mountains from west to east, as the soil in the valley could be barren, trading was necessary for life support. Ancient routes went to western Norway through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda, reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet and spoke a western dialect. The actual migration routes are hard to map, and the migrants may have blended with local hunters from the mountains around the valley. In recognition of this, Cardinal Nicholas Breakespear, who was in Scandinavia as papal legate in 1153, the municipalities within Hallingdal include Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol which cooperate through the Hallingdal Regional Council. The area is within the area of the Hallingdal District Court. Hallingdal has developed its own brand of the rosemaling, with a distinct style, different from the style in Telemark. The valley also fostered a number of painters during the 18th and 19th century. The parents of Norwegian romanticist painter Hans Gude lived in Hallingdal until 1852, the music of Hallingdal is traditionally dominated by the hardanger fiddle, which was taken into use from c
32.
Numedal
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Numedal is a valley and a traditional district in Eastern Norway located within the county of Buskerud. It traditionally includes the municipalities Flesberg, Nore og Uvdal and Rollag, administratively, it now also includes Kongsberg. Numedal is the southernmost valley of the valleys in Eastern Norway. Numedal is a largely a U-shaped valley, most of the area is mountainous, especially west of the main valley, with steep valley sides. Running north–south, it extends between Flesberg in the south to Rødberg in the north, passing through the municipalities of Flesberg, Rollag, the Numedalslågen, the third-longest river in Norway, flows through the valley before discharging into Oslofjord at Larvik. National Road 40 runs from Larvik, national Road 7 crosses Hardangervidda to Geilo. Numedal Line Railway was opened in 1927 and stopped operations in 1988, the former railroad track from Veggli to Rødberg is now used principally for cycling. Agriculture and forestry are important industries in the valley along with hydropower generation, the name comes from Nauma, the Old Norse name for the Numedalslågen, and dal meaning valley. The origin and meaning of the name are the same as that of Namdalen, Numedal is also the location of one of the Norwegian paths, which were the main roads between east and west. On the marked paths, remains of Stone Age dwelling places, bog iron works, the area along the Numedalslågen from Flesberg up to the Hardangervidda through the valley has a large number of examples of Medieval Scandinavian architecture. There are still over 40 historic timber buildings and four churches, Flesberg stave church, Rollag Stave Church, Nore Stave Church. Numedal also has several museums including Nore og Uvdal Open Air Museum in Uvdal, Rollag Open Air Museum in Rollag and these are collections of historic buildings, mostly built in the traditional style common for the valley. Tour suggestions from Numedal Nordmannsslepene Nore og Uvdal Bygdetun Rollag bygdetun Middelalderuka i Numedal
33.
Ringerike (traditional district)
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Ringerike is a traditional district in Norway, commonly consisting of the municipalities Hole, and Ringerike in Buskerud county. In older times, Ringerike had a range which went westward, to the municipalities Krødsherad, Modum. Ringerike has a history that is connected with one of the most notable kings in the history of Norway, as Halfdan the Black. There are also archaeological remains in the area, dating to the medieval period. The district was known in Old Norse as Hringaríki which means the reich of the Rings, the initial H was dropped sometime in the 13th century. The etymology of the district has been, however, contested among philologists, halvdan Koht suggested in 1921 that the first settlers of Ringerike settled around Tyrifjorden in a ring, though this theory is outdated to many. It is suggested that Ringerike was named in a fashion of Romerike. Eivind Vågslid suggested in 1959 that Ringa was the old name of the river Storelva, today, it may refer to the municipality Ringerike, or the municipalities Hole and Ringerike in Buskerud, which form the administrative district of Ringerike. Including Jevnaker in Oppland, it forms the Council for the Ringerike Region, Ringerike style, a historic Scandinavian animal style, was first discovered on rune stones in Ringerike. One of these, was the Alstad stone, a stone found in 1913 on the farm Nedre Alstad in Østre Toten. Both Ulvøya and Ringerike are mentioned in the text, Old Norse, English translation, The Dynna stone, a rune stone from Hadeland, is of the same type of red sandstone typical for Ringerike. Ringerike was founded by its eponymous ruler Hring, who was the son of Raum the Old, one of the more significant historic people who have lived in Ringerike, was the king Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, who united Norway into a single kingdom. In the early Viking Era before Harald Fairhair became the first king of Norway, Dagling was a legendary clan of Ringerike. One of the sons of Dag the Great was Óli, who was the father of Dag, Óleif, Hring, Olaf, Helgi, and Sigurd Hjört, Sigurd Hjört was the father of Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter, the mother of Harald Fairhair. Following Haralds consolidation of Norway in the late 9th century, the kingdom appears to have ruled by a series of local jarls. A later sub-king of Ringerike, Sigurd Syr, was the father of Harald Hardråde, when King Olaf Tryggvason came to Ringerike to spread Christianity, Sigurd Syr and his wife allowed themselves to be baptized. Ringerike was in its beginnings, the southwesternmost district of the historical Uplands,1320, it was together with Hadeland, Land and Toten, a part of the county Haðafylki. Ringerike was in c.1640 grouped with Hallingdal in the district Buskerud og Hallingdal Fogderi, in 1866, the district was divided into the Buskerud district, which included Krødsherad, Modum, and Sigdal, along with Lower Buskerud, excluding Kongsberg
34.
Vingulmark
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During the Middle Ages, Vingulmark was an administrative unit limited to Oslo, Bærum and Asker. The Old Norse form of the name was Vingulmǫrk, the first part of the name, Vingul, is the accusative case of Vingull, fescue, or fool. The last element of the name, mark or plural mǫrk, forest or March, according to medieval kings sagas, it was a Viking Age petty kingdom. Vingulmark was one of the four counties under the Court of Law, which together constituted the ancient landscape of Viken. Archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the river Glomma, at Onsøy, Rolvsøy and Tune, where the remains of a ship and this indicates that there was an important center of power in this area. There are indications that at least the part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century. This would include parts of Vingulmark, snorri Sturluson writes in Heimskringla and Fagrskinna, that King Harald Fairhair inherited part of Vingulmark from his father Halfdan the Black. King Harald defeated King Gandalf, who had held half of Vingulmark. Snorri Sturluson relates in Heimskringla that the area was claimed by the Swedish King Erik Emundsson. The Norwegians invaded Götaland to defend their claim
35.
Nes, Buskerud
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Nes is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesbyen, the parish of Næs was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The area of Flå was separated from Nes on 1 January 1905 to become a separate municipality, the municipality is named after the old Nes farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word nes which means headland, prior to 1889, the name was spelled Næs. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 29 June 1979. The arms show a yellow-gold triangle pointing to the left on a red background and this represents a sandy peninsula or headlands formed by the confluence of two rivers, Rukkedøla and Hallingdalselva. The design is canting because this is what the name of the municipality means, ancient routes went to Vestlandet through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda. Reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet, in recognition of this, Cardinal Nicholas Breakespear, who was in Scandinavia as papal legate in 1153, included these two valleys in the diocese of Stavanger. The municipality lies in the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal and it is bordered on the north by the municipality of Gol, on the east by Sør-Aurdal, on the southeast by Flå, on the southwest by Nore og Uvdal, and to the west by Ål. The majority of the live in the villages of Nesbyen, Espeset, Eidal, Sjong, Børtnes, Bromma, Svenkerud. Hallingdal Museum is located in Nesbyen, Hallingdal Folk Museum, founded in 1899, is one of the oldest open air museums in Norway. It has a large and unique collection of buildings and artifacts from farms in Hallingdal, special mentions is houses like Staveloftet, built around 1340, from the Stave farm and Trøymstua from about 1645, coming from Hemsedal. There is an old meteor crater just north of Nesbyen, about 650 million years ago, a 200-to-300-metre meteorite struck this area. This resulted in a 5-kilometre impact crater and an amount of outpouring of energy by the impact
36.
Gol, Norway
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Gol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gol, Gol was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The area of Hemsedal was separated from Gol in 1897 to become a separate municipality, the municipality of Gol is bordered to the north by the municipality of Nord-Aurdal, to the east by Sør-Aurdal, to the south by Nes, and to the west by Ål and Hemsedal. The Old Norse form of the name was Gǫrð and this is probably an old river name. The name of the river is derived from the word garðr m fence, border -. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 13 September 1985. The arms are gold with three keys in the center. The keys are derived from the key for the oldest stave church in Gol Gol stave church, the Bergen Line from Bergen to Oslo runs through Gol Station, opened in 1907. The mediaeval Gol stave church was due for demolition after the construction of a new church around 1880. It was saved from destruction by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments, financial problems were solved when King Oscar II decided to pay for its relocation and restoration as the central building of his private open-air museum near Oslo, where it was completed in 1885. In 1907, the museum was merged with the Norsk Folkemuseum. A modern replica has been built as a tourist attraction in a park in downtown Gol. Gol Bygdetun, is a museum built around the old Skaga farm. It is dedicated to the history of Gol, and contains farm buildings of nearly all types. The oldest building dates back to 17th century, bjørn Tolleivson Frøysåk was a Norwegian farmer and merchant. He was born one of the major farming families in Hallingdal. He is particularly known for an epitaph from 1699, showing him
37.
Hemsedal
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Hemsedal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym, Hemsedal lies on the Norwegian National Road 52, the main road from Oslo to Bergen. Hemsedal is located 220 km northwest of Oslo and 273 km from Bergen, the Old Norse form of the name was Hemsudalr. The Norwegian word hems is named after the valley of Hemsedal, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. The arms were granted on 2 October 1992 and were designed by Stein Davidsen, the arms show a gold lynx head on a red background. It is unclear how long there has been a settlement in Hemsedal, charcoal found in many places in the valley testifies to iron smelting. The oldest charcoal that has been found has been dated to ca, probably the first settlers made a living as hunters and gatherers, the area had a large population of wild reindeer in the past. In 1327 it was mentioned under the name Skodvinar Kirkja i Hemsudali. The church was dismantled in 1882, when it was replaced by Hemsedal church 1 kilometre away, Hemsedal natives are known as hemsedøler. The local dialect is transitional between Eastern and Western Norwegian, with roots in Old Norse. The valley has traditionally had small and medium-sized farms that were scattered on the valley bottom on both sides of the river and along the slopes. Most therefore had milking stations on the shielings, in the 1647 cadastre there was only one farm in Hemsedal large enough to pay full taxes, there were 24 liable for half taxation and 15–16 assessed as disused. In addition, there were a number of enterprises that were not assessed tax, the estimated population was about 400. Until the mid-19th century, the population increased steadily, in 1845 there were 1,775 people in the village. However, the population declined again over the next 75 years, in 1920 it had fallen to 1,358, before once more starting to increase. In 1897, Hemsedal was separated from the municipality of Gol to become a municipality of its own, hemsedals modern history can be said to begin early in the 20th century, when the first hotel in the village, the Skogstad Hotel, was completed in 1905. Before that, in the half of the 19th century
38.
Flesberg
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Flesberg is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lampeland, the economy of Flesberg is dominated by forestry and agriculture, as well as the cluster of high-tech industries in neighbouring town of Kongsberg. The municipality is named after the old Flesberg farm, since the first church was built here, the first element is fles which means rock and the last element is berg which means mountain. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 10 March 1989. The arms show two tømmerklaver to represent forestry - and also the letter F, the Flesberg stave church was built around the year 1250. The municipality of Flesberg was established on 1 January 1838, the area of Jondalen was transferred from Flesberg to the neighboring municipality of Kongsberg on 1 January 1964. The municipality is divided into the parishes Flesberg, Lyngdal, most of the population lives in the four villages of Svene, Lampeland, Flesberg, and Lyngdal. The municipal area is 560 square kilometres, in the western part of Flesberg, the landscape rises steeply to the mountain area of Blefjell, a popular tourist destination
39.
Rollag
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Rollag is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rollag, Rollag is bordered in the north by Nore og Uvdal, in the east by Sigdal, in the south by Flesberg, and in the west by Tinn in Telemark. The municipality is named after the old Rollag farm, since the first church was built here, the first element is probably a river name Rolla and the last element is lag which means fishing place. The municipality of Rollag was established on 1 January 1838, Nore og Uvdal was separated from Rollag in 1858. The coat-of-arms is from modern times, the arms show two gold-colored lines on a red background. The lines represent an old warning cairn made of timber, the municipality lies in the heart of the Numedal traditional region and valley, the westernmost valley in southeastern Norway. The river Numedalslågen flows through Rollag and into the Ytre Oslofjord at Larvik, in the northwest of the Rollag lie the Vegglifjell mountains, which are an entryway into the Hardangervidda. The municipalitys highest point is Storegrønut at 1,289 metres located in the Vegglifjell mountains, Rollag stave church was built around 1150-1200. It is located a few north of the centre of Rollag. It was extended and windows were added in 1652, a new Apse was added in 1666. The transept was constructed in 1697-1698, a gallery was added in 1702. The sacristy was built in 1739, a Baroque pulpit was added in 1763. no Another map of Rollag
40.
Nore og Uvdal
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Nore og Uvdal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rødberg, the area of Nore was separated from the municipality of Rollag in 1858. The municipality of Nore was divided into two municipalities on 1 January 1901, Nore and Uvdal and these two municipalities were merged back together on 1 January 1962, and the new municipality was called Nore og Uvdal. The municipalities of Nore and Uvdal were joined together in 1962 into Nore og Uvdal, the Old Norse form of Nore was Nórar. The name is the form of nór which means narrow sound or strait. The name originally belonged to the vicarage at Norefjorden, the Old Norse form of Uvdal was Uppdalr. The first element is upp meaning upper or high and the last element is dalr which means valley or dale, the name originally belonged to the vicarage and old church site. Prior to 1933, the name was spelled Opdal, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 26 March 1982, the arms are divided diagonally with the colors green on yellow above the line and yellow on green below. The economy of the municipality is based on agriculture and forestry, hence the upper half of the arms shows a barn for the storage of grains and the lower half a watermill wheel which was used to saw trees. The municipal centre is the village of Rødberg, Nore and Uvdal are the two other villages in the municipality. Nore og Uvdal is bordered in the north by the municipalities of Hol, Ål, and Nes, in the east by Flå and Sigdal, in the south by Rollag, Tinn, and Vinje, and in the west by Eidfjord. The municipality is located at the top of the valley and traditional district of Numedal, the municipality’s highest point is the Borgsjåbrot mountain at 1,485 metres. It is located on the border with Tinn municipality in Telemark county, a large part of the Hardangervidda lies within the municipalitys borders. Lakes in the municipality include Geitsjøen and Hettefjorden. no EKT Langedrag Naturpark Uvdal - official visitor information
41.
Hole, Norway
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Hole is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vik, Hole is located around lake Tyrifjorden and extends to the woodland around Oslo. The soil is fertile, excellent for growing fruit, berries, the municipality of Hole was established on 1 January 1838. The annex of Tyristrand was separated from Hole on 1 July 1916 to become a municipality of its own, the municipality of Hole was merged into the neighboring municipality of Ringerike in 1964, however, this merger ended in 1977 when Hole was restored as a separate municipality. The municipality is named after the old Hole farm, since the first church was built there, the name is the plural form of hóll which means round hill. The coat-of-arms is from modern times, as they were granted on 24 May 1985, the arms show four gold crowns on a red background. Berserkers killed Sigurd Hart and subsequently kidnapped his daughter Ragnhild, Halfdan the Black saved Ragnhild and married her. King Halfdan the Black ended his life in 860 by going through the ice on Randsfjorden with his men, his horse and his body-or some part thereof-was possibly buried at the Stein farm on Halvdanshaugen. Sigurd Syr lived during the 11th century and he was the great-great grandchild of Harald Hårfagre. Although a king, Sigurd Syr was mainly interested in agricultural matters and his nickname Syr meant, The one who is digging in the field. He was known as a peaceful and very wise man, Sigurd Syr married the widow Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, who had a little son, Olav, today known as St. Olaf. Åsta and Sigurd Syr were the parents of Harald Hårdråde, St. Olav reigned from 1015 to 1030. His mother was the above-mentioned Åsta and his stepfather was King Sigurd Syr, however, Olaf Haraldssons real father was Harald Grenske, who had been killed in 995. His widow, Åsta, gave birth to Olaf at the same year, Olaf Haraldsson is one out of four saints in Norwegian history and world known. Harald Hårdråde reigned from 1046 to 1066 and was the brother of Olaf Haraldsson. He was born at King Syrs farm, as a king he was known for his tough rule. He was only 15 years old when he fought in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030, Hole has an extensive and important role in Norwegian history
42.
Ringerike (municipality)
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Ringerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hønefoss, the municipality of Ringerike was created on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the town of Hønefoss and the rural municipalities of Hole, Norderhov, Tyristrand, and Ådal. However, the area of Hole was removed from the municipality of Ringerike on 1 January 1977 to become a separate municipality once again, the historic area of Ringerike included not just the modern municipality of Ringerike but also Hole and Krødsherad, Modum and Sigdal. The Old Norse form of name was Hringaríki. The first element is the plural of hringir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is ríki n kingdom, reich, the coat of arms were granted on 16 June 1967. The arms show a ring on a red background. The colours red and gold represent royalty and are the colors of Norway. The ring is a symbol and at the same time symbolises the unity of the area. Lakes in the include, Samsjøen Øyangen Sperillen Ullerentjernet Vestre Bjonevatnet Ringerike is famous for two agriculture products, Ringerike potato and Ringerike pea. Jens Aabel first started production of Ringerike potato around 1867, the Ringerike pea has obtained PDO. The Ringerike potato has applied for the protection, and is waiting for the result from the Agriculture department. In June 2007, the potato got protected geographical indication under the name Ringerikspotet fra Ringerike, six farmers are now producing and packing this special potato at Ask in Ringerike. Most of the potatoes are sold in the Oslo area, bjørn Kjos CEO and founder of Norwegian Air Shuttle
listen)) is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The county extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardangervidda mountain range in the northwest. The county administration is located in Drammen.[1]
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