| Buskerud fylke | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — County — | |||
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| Buskerud within Norway | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Buskerud | ||
| Region | Østlandet | ||
| County ID | NO-06 | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Demonym | Buskerudfolk | ||
| Administrative centre | Drammen | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl Arbeiderpartiet (1999–present) |
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| • County mayor | Roger Ryberg Arbeiderpartiet (2007–present) |
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| Area(#12 in Norway, 4.53% of Norway's land area) | |||
| • Total | 14,908 km2 (5,756 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 13,794 km2 (5,325.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 253,006 | ||
| • Density | 18/km2 (46.6/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | 6.7 % | ||
| • Rank in Norway | 8 (5.29% of country) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02) | ||
| Income (per capita) | 155,400 NOK | ||
| GDP (per capita) | 227,626 NOK (2001) | ||
| National Rank: | 7 (3.57% of country) | ||
| Website | www.bfk.no | ||
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| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1951 | 156,220 | — |
| 1961 | 168,351 | +7.8% |
| 1971 | 198,852 | +18.1% |
| 1981 | 214,571 | +7.9% |
| 1991 | 225,261 | +5.0% |
| 2001 | 238,833 | +6.0% |
| 2011 | 261,110 | +9.3% |
| 2021? | 300,142 | +14.9% |
| 2031? | 332,808 | +10.9% |
| Source: Statistics Norway.[1] | ||
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.
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Buskerud extends from Hurum at the Oslofjord to the Halling mountains and Hardanger. The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are Eiker, Ringerike, Numedal and Hallingdal. Hønefoss is the district capital of Ringerike. Its western part is a mountainous plateau with forested valleys and high, grassy pastures; its eastern part contains a lowland basin with many lakes and streams. Tyrifjorden and Krøderen are the biggest lakes. Numedalslågen, the third longest river in Norway, starting in Hordaland, runs through Buskerud unto Vestfold where it reaches the sea, while river Begna sweeps into lake Sperillen.
Buskerud was separated from Akershus as an amt of its own in 1685, but the area of this one it was smaller than today. (It then consisted of the present municipalities of Flå, Gol, Hemsedal, Hol, Hole, Krødsherad, Modum, Nedre Eiker, Nes, Ringerike, Sigdal, Øvre Eiker and Ål.) The area of the present municipalities of Flesberg, Hurum, Kongsberg, Lier, Nore og Uvdal, Rollag and Røyken were transferred from Akershus amt to Buskerud amt in 1760. The name Buskeruds amt was changed to Buskerud fylke in 1919. The municipality of Skoger was transferred from Vestfold to Buskerud in 1964.
The area Ringerike may once have been a small kingdom. During the 10th century, Norway's kings Olav Trygvason and Olav Haraldsson grew up at Bønsnes in Ringerike. In the Numedal valley, silver has been mined in Kongsberg from the 17th century but was discontinued in 1957. Weapons industry had been developed in Kongsberg from 1814, and various high tech industry companies now represent the town's major employers. At Modum there once was a Cobalt pigment production works (Blaafarveværket, "The Blue-Color Works").
Today, agriculture, lumber, wood-pulp mills, and other related industries are the county's main economic activities; ample hydroelectric power is produced by Begna and Rands rivers. Buskerud has also has the largest amount of trees in Norway.
The county is named after the old farm Buskerud (Buskerud hovedgård, Old Norse: Biskupsruð) located on the west side of the Drammen River in Åmot in Modum municipality. The first element is the genitive case of biskup m 'bishop' (referring to the bishop of Oslo or Hamar), the last element is ruð n 'clearing, farm'. The farm is one of the largest in Buskerud, and the original name of the farm (before it became a benefice) was probably Modum. At the time of the Reformation (ca. 1536-1539) the farm became property of the Crown and the farm then served as the residence of the king's bailiffs until 1668.
Buskerud's coat of arms (created in April, 1966) features a blue bear whose coloring is symbolic of the Blue-Color Works. The silver background of Buskerud's coat of arms represents the silver industry in Kongsberg.
| Rank | Name | Inhabitants[4] | Area km² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drammen | 62,566 | 136 |
| 2 | Ringerike | 28,806 | 1,437 |
| 3 | Kongsberg | 24,714 | 761 |
| 4 | Lier | 23,267 | 283 |
| 5 | Nedre Eiker | 22,687 | 116 |
| 6 | Røyken | 18,894 | 112 |
| 7 | Øvre Eiker | 16,616 | 421 |
| 8 | Modum | 12,911 | 468 |
| 9 | Hurum | 9,045 | 156 |
| 10 | Hole | 5,976 | 135 |
| 11 | Ål | 4,672 | 1,083 |
| 12 | Gol | 4,479 | 517 |
| 13 | Hol | 4,422 | 1,669 |
| 14 | Sigdal | 3,514 | 813 |
| 15 | Nes | 3,420 | 776 |
| 16 | Flesberg | 2,578 | 542 |
| 17 | Nore og Uvdal | 2,514 | 2,281 |
| 18 | Krødsherad | 2,117 | 341 |
| 19 | Hemsedal | 2,087 | 715 |
| 20 | Rollag | 1,390 | 484 |
| 21 | Flå | 998 | 674 |
| Total | Buskerud | 257,673 | 12,336 |
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