close
Jump to content

Aust-Agder

Coordinates: 58°34′00″N 08°34′00″E / 58.56667°N 8.56667°E / 58.56667; 8.56667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aust-Agder County
Aust-Agder fylke
Former County
The lake Vegår in 2001
The lake Vegår in 2001
Flag of Aust-Agder County
Flag
Coat of arms of Aust-Agder County
Coat of arms
Aust-Agder within Norway
Aust-Agder within Norway
Coordinates: 58°34′00″N 08°34′00″E / 58.56667°N 8.56667°E / 58.56667; 8.56667
CountryNorway
CountyAust-Agder
DistrictSouthern Norway
Established1685
 • Preceded byAgdesiden
Disestablished1 Jan 2020
 • Succeeded byAgder county
Administrative centreArendal
Government
 • BodyAust-Agder County Municipality
 • Governor (2016-2019)Svein Ytterdahl (Ap)
 • County mayor
   (2017-2019)		Gro Bråten (Ap)
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total
9,158 km2 (3,536 sq mi)
 • Land8,353 km2 (3,225 sq mi)
 • Water805 km2 (311 sq mi)
Population
 (30 September 2019)
 • Total
118,127
 • Density14.14/km2 (36.63/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +4.3%
DemonymAustegde[1]
Official language
[2]
 • Norwegian formNeutral
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-09[3]
Income (per capita)135,700 kr (2001)
GDP (per capita)208,275 kr (2001)
GDP national rank#18 in Norway
(1.4% of country)
Data from Statistics Norway

Aust-Agder (Norwegian: [ˈæ̂ʉstˌɑɡdər] ⓘ, lit. '"East Agder"') was a county (fylke) in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Vest-Agder county to form the new Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was 9,212 square kilometres (3,557 sq mi). The county's administrative center was the town of Arendal.

The county, located along the Skagerrak coast, extended from Gjernestangen in Risør Municipality to the Kvåsefjorden in Lillesand Municipality. The inner parts of the area included Setesdalsheiene and Austheiene mountain areas. Most of the population lived near the coast; about 78% of the county's inhabitants lived in the five coastal municipalities of Arendal, Grimstad, Lillesand, Tvedestrand, and Risør. The rest of the county was sparsely populated. Tourism was also important, as Arendal and the other coastal towns were popular attractions.

The county included the larger islands of Tromøya, Hisøya, Justøya, and Sandøya. The interior of the county encompassed the traditional district of Setesdal, through which the river Otra flows to the coast.

In 2017, the Parliament of Norway voted to merge Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties into one large county called Agder, effective 1 January 2020.[4]

The county was part of the Aust-Agder District Court and the Church of Norway Diocese of Agder og Telemark.[5]

Name

[edit]
See also: Vest-Agder § Name

The meaning of the name is "(the) eastern (part of) Agder", since the word aust is the Nynorsk form of "east".

Until 1919, the name of the county was Nedenes amt. The amt was named after the old Nedenes farm (Old Norse: Niðarnes), since this was the seat of the amtmann (County Governor). The first element is the genitive case of the river name Nið (now called Nidelva) and the last element is nes which means "headland". The meaning of the river name is unknown.[6]

Coat of arms

[edit]

The coat of arms was from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1958. It showed two horizontal golden bars on a red background. They symbolized the lumber trade and the recovery of iron ore that was important for Aust-Agder's growth. There were two bars to represent the two areas of the county: inland and coastal.[7][8]

Demographics

[edit]
Historical population
Year1951196119711981199120012011
Pop.75,81177,06680,83990,62997,314102,714110,048
±%—    +1.7%+4.9%+12.1%+7.4%+5.5%+7.1%
Source: Statistics Norway.[9]
Religion in Aust-Agder[10][11]
religion percent
Christianity
 
 87.57%
Islam
 
 0.75%
Buddhism
 
 0.24%
Other
 
 11.44%

Since the census of 1769, Aust-Agder has experienced a steady population growth: from 29,633 to 79,927 in 1900, and to 102,848 in 2001. There was significant emigration to the United States in the 19th century and early 20th century.

Municipalities

[edit]

The system of municipalities, or kommuner, was established in Norway on 1 January 1838, based on previously existing parishes (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Norway had been ceded to Sweden by Denmark in 1814, at which it promptly rebelled and won the right of self-rule, though nominally part of Sweden. In 1905, Norway declared total independence. Meanwhile, as the years progressed, the municipalities did not remain the same, but new ones were formed, old ones broken up, and land was transferred. From the 1990s until its dissolution in 2020, Aust-Agder was divided into 15 municipalities:

BERJAYA
Map of the municipalities in the county
No. Name Adm. Center Population Area (km2)
0901 Risør kommune Risør Municipality Risør 6,936 193
0904 Grimstad kommune Grimstad Municipality Grimstad 22,692 304
0906 Arendal kommune Arendal Municipality Arendal 44,576 270
0911 Gjerstad kommune Gjerstad Municipality Gjerstad 2,511 322
0912 Vegårshei kommune Vegårshei Municipality Myra 2,104 356
0914 Tvedestrand kommune Tvedestrand Municipality Tvedestrand 6,051 215
0919 Froland kommune Froland Municipality Blakstad 5,713 645
0926 Lillesand kommune Lillesand Municipality Lillesand 10,702 190
0928 Birkenes kommune Birkenes Municipality Birkeland 5,178 674
0929 Åmli kommune Åmli Municipality Åmli 1,856 1,131
0935 Iveland kommune Iveland Municipality Birketveit 1,342 262
0937 Evje og Hornnes kommune Evje og Hornnes Municipality Evje 3,614 550
0938 Bygland kommune Bygland Municipality Bygland 1,200 1,312
0940 Valle kommune Valle Municipality Valle 1,246 1,265
0941 Bylke kommune Bykle Municipality Bykle 952 1,467
Total Aust-Agder fylke Aust-Agder Arendal 116,673 9,158

Cities

[edit]
Main article: list of towns and cities in Norway

Parishes

[edit]

Villages

[edit]
Main article: list of villages in Aust-Agder

Former Municipalities

[edit]
Main article: list of former municipalities of Norway § Aust-Agder

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2024-01-09). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.
  4. ^ "Om sammenslåingen" (in Norwegian). Agder fylkeskommune. Archived from the original on 2018-01-07. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  5. ^ "Agder og Telemark bispedømme". Agder og Telemark bispedømme (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2025-10-28. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  6. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 110.
  7. ^ "Fylkesvåpenet" (in Norwegian). Aust-Agder fylkeskommune. Archived from the original on 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  8. ^ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  9. ^ Projected population - Statistics Norway
  10. ^ Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.
  11. ^ Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010
[edit]
  • Political map
  • Aust-Agder fylkeskommune (in English)
  • Photogallery
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Aust-Agder at Wikimedia Commons
  • Wikivoyage logo Aust-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aust-Agder&oldid=1358600422"