Tjøme

Tjøme kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Vestfold within
Norway

Tjøme within Vestfold
Coordinates: 59°7′16″N 10°23′57″E / 59.12111°N 10.39917°ECoordinates: 59°7′16″N 10°23′57″E / 59.12111°N 10.39917°E
Country Norway
County Vestfold
Administrative centre Tjøme
Government
 • Mayor (2008) Bente Kleppe Bjerke (Ap)
Area
 • Total 39 km2 (15 sq mi)
 • Land 39 km2 (15 sq mi)
Area rank 423 in Norway
Population (2004)
 • Total 4,553
 • Rank 212 in Norway
 • Density 117/km2 (300/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 13.1 %
Demonym Tjømling[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0723
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.tjome.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Tjøme (Norwegian pronunciation: [çœmə]) is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tjøme. The parish of Tjømø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Tjúma. The name of the island is probably very old, and the meaning is unknown. Prior to 1918, the name was spelled "Tjømø".[2]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1989). The arms show three silver-colored oarlocks on a blue background which represents the three islands Tjøme, Brøtsø and Hvasser.

See also: Coat-of-arms of Fosnes and Radøy

Geography

Tjøme Lilleskagen

Tjøme municipality is completely located on islands, the main island being the Tjøme island, where Kirkebygda (the community center) is located, along with the shops, schools and restaurants. There are a few other central areas on the islands such as Hvasser, with active fishermen as well as the tourist industry for the bypassing travellers, with an icebar, shops, bunker station petrol station, and a number of places to buy food and supplies.

There are approximately 4,600 permanent residents on the island, but in the summer months this number rises to around 40,000 inhabitants, including the Norwegian Royal Family who have a summer house on the island. The reason for the extreme increase is mainly the sea sports available in the area and the remarkably good weather. Summers on Tjøme are both warm and sunny, and the beaches are filled with locals and tourists. Tjøme has been nicknamed Sommerøya (English: the summer island). Tourists mostly from the Oslo area visit this charming island.

Verdens Ende (English: World's End, or more figuratively, The End of the Earth) lies at the southern tip of Tjøme Island, and has for years been visited by tourists. Ironically enough, it is not really the end of the world in any sense, but when one stands there and looks out across the vast area of ocean one can forget about the geography and really feel like there is nothing else out there.

Tjøme is also a great place for hiking, even though they are limited by the size of the island. The spectacular seaside scenery can be seen all year round.

References

  1. ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1907). Norske gaardnavne: Jarlsberg og Larviks amt (in Norwegian) (6 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 251–252.

External links