Ski, Norway

Ski is located southeast of Oslo. Ski has the administrative status of a town/city (norwegian: "by"), and can be divided into a centre ("Ski Sentrum") surrounding Ski railroad station and the suburban/rural villages of Kråkstad, Langhus and Siggerud. Ski is the trade and commercial centre of the Follo region. The centre is dominated by a large mall containing shops, cafes and a cinema complex. The mall was built in 1994, replacing some of the oldest buildings of Ski centre. The centre, at present, is an unappealing mess of red and yellow brick cubes, though the mall has received positive critiques for its interior design. Outside of the centre, Ski is largely an area of forestry and agriculture. Ski can be described as an exurb of Oslo.

Ski, as most of Follo, lies on ancient rock foundations. Throughout the local authority from east to west there is a moraine left from the Ice age. Stone age tools are still being found when fields are ploughed, and Ski has more than 300 registered ancient historical artifacts. Remains from the Iron age can also be seen here. In Kråkstad and Ski are two stone churches from medieval times. The name Ski is etymologically derived from the older form "Skeidar", meaning "horse pasture", and is not linked to the sport of skiing.

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Ski (Norse Skeiđi). The word skeiđi n is a sideform to skeiđ n 'running track for horseracing'.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1986). It shows horseheads arranged in a triplet. (See above under the name.)

Municipalities of Akershus
Asker \| Aurskog-Høland \| Bærum \| Eidsvoll \| Enebakk \| Fet \| Frogn \| Gjerdrum \| Hurdal \| Lørenskog \| Nannestad \| Nes \| Nesodden \| Nittedal \| Oppegård \| Rælingen \| Skedsmo \| Ski \| Sørum \| Ullensaker \| Vestby \| Ås