Porsgrunn

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Porsgrunn kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Telemark within Norway
Porsgrunn within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°6′56″N 9°42′36″E / 59.11556, 9.71
Country	Norway
County	Telemark
District	Grenland
Municipality ID	NO-0805
Administrative centre	Porsgrunn
Government
- Mayor (2003)	Øystein Beyer (Ap)
Area (Nr. 352 in Norway)
- Total	165 km² (63.7 sq mi)
- Land	161 km² (62.2 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	33,550
- Density	2,653/km² (6,871.2/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	6.4 %
- Rank in Norway	22
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form	Neutral
Data from Statistics Norway
Website: www.porsgrunn.kommune.no

Porsgrunn is a town and municipality in the county of Telemark, Norway.

Porsgrunn was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The town of Brevik, and the rural district of Eidanger, were merged with Porsgrunn January 1, 1964.

Porsgrunn borders the municipalities of Skien and Siljan to the north, Bamble in the west and Larvik in the east. It is part of a cluster of municipalities south in Telemark that constitute the Grenland area of Norway. The town is situated at the mouth of the river Telemarksvassdraget, also called Porsgrunnselva or The River of Porsgrunn in English, and is an important center of industry. Originally an industrial park, the peninsula of Herøya, south-east of the city, has today grown into a suburb of Porsgrunn.

Contents 1 The name 2 History 3 Industry 4 Transport 5 Famous people from Porsgrunn 6 References 6.1 Books 6.2 Footnotes 7 External links

[edit] The name

The place is first mentioned in 1576 ("Porsgrunn") by the writer Peder Claussøn Friis in his work Concerning the Kingdom of Norway (see the article on Norwegian literature). He writes: "Two and a half miles from the sea, the Skien river flows into the fiord, and that place is called Porsgrund." The name was probably given during medieval times to the then swampy area by the nuns of Gimsøy monastery, who went here to collect the shrub pors (Myrica gale), and the Norwegian word grunn meaning 'ground'. Until 1931 the name was written "Porsgrund".

[edit] History

Porsgrunn has been an important harbor town in the Grenland area since the late 16th century. In 1653, the Customs House was moved further down the Telemarksvassdraget from Skien to Porsgrunn mainly because industrial waste such as sawdust and mud made the river too shallow to allow boats to go any further up the river^[1]. Moving the Customs House from Skien to Porsgrunn in 1653 added to the flourishing harbor activity, and Porsgrunn became a thriving market town. In the 18th century, it was the home of some of Norway's most influential families at the time, such as the Aalls, Cappelens, Løvenskiolds, and Deichmans, and in this period Porsgrunn was considered the cultural centre of Norway. On the ecclestiastical side, Porsgrunn was separated from the ancient rural parishes of Eidanger, Solum, and Gjerpen in 1764 to become a prestegjeld with its own minister. It was granted limited city status in 1807, but this was expanded to full city status in 1842.

[edit] Industry

Porsgrunn has a long history of heavy industry.
Important industries in Porsgrunn include:

• Norsk Hydro (Magnesium)
• Elkem (Silicium)
• Yara International (Nitrogen fertilizers)
• Porsgrund Porcelænsfabrik (Porcelain)
• Renewable Energy Corporation (Wafer (electronics))
• Isola (Building materials, Roofing)
• Norcem
• Eramet

[edit] Transport

Transport links from Porsgrunn:

• Bus (Oslo, Kristiansand, Notodden)
• Train (stops at Porsgrunn Station)
  • Vestfoldbanen to Drammen and onwards to Oslo
  • Bratsbergbanen to Skien and Notodden

[edit] Famous people from Porsgrunn

• Cort Adeler, admiral, born in Brevik
• Johan Castberg, politician, born in Brevik
• Kristin Halvorsen, politician, leader of Socialist Left Party, Minister of Finance
• Petter Stordalen, businessman, real estate developer and hotel owner
• Tony Capaldi, professional footballer currently playing for Cardiff City
• Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, former leader, Unge Høyre

See also People from Porsgrunn (category)

[edit] References

[edit] Books

• Harald Hals (1968). Eidanger bygdehistorie. Brødrene Kjaer Boktrykkeri.
• Johan N. Tønnessen (1956-1957). Porsgrunns historie.
• Ole Georg Moseng (2006). Porsgrunns historie . Bind I . Byen i emning .
• Ellen Schrumpf (2006). Porsgrunns historie . Bind II . Byen ved elva.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Municipal Homepage
• Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik AS (porcelain factory)
• www.isola.com
• Porsgrunn public library

v • d • e Municipalities of Telemark Bamble · Bø · Drangedal · Fyresdal · Hjartdal · Kragerø · Kviteseid · Nissedal · Nome · Notodden · Porsgrunn · Sauherad · Seljord · Siljan · Skien · Tinn · Tokke · Vinje

v • d • e 30 most populous urban settlements (cities) of Norway with number of inhabitants according to Statistics Norway[1] as of 2007 1. Oslo (839,400) · 2. Bergen (220,400) · 3. Stavanger/Sandnes (181,300) · 4. Trondheim (152,800) · 5. Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg (99,200) · 6. Drammen (93,000) · 7. Skien/Porsgrunn (85,800) · 8. Kristiansand (77,600) · 9. Tromsø (53,600) · 10. Tønsberg (46,100) · 11. Ålesund (45,300) · 12. Haugesund (41,200) · 13. Moss (40,200) · 14. Sandefjord (40,200) · 15. Bodø (35,600) · 16. Arendal (31,400) · 17. Hamar (29,500) · 18. Larvik (23,400) · 19. Halden (22,300) · 20. Lillehammer (19,600) · 21. Harstad (19,600) · 22. Molde (18,600) · 23. Kongsberg (18,100) · 24. Gjøvik (18,000) · 25. Horten (17,900) · 26. Mo i Rana (17,800) · 27. Askøy (17,800) · 28. Kristiansund (16,800) · 29. Narvik (13,900) · 30. Hønefoss (13,900)