Østfold

Østfold fylke
County

Rødenes in late-June 2006

Coat of arms

Østfold within Norway
Country Norway
County Østfold
Region Østlandet
County ID NO-01
Administrative centre Sarpsborg
Government
 • Governor Anne Enger
  Senterpartiet
  (2003–present)
 • County mayor Ole Haabeth
  Arbeiderpartiet
  (2007–present)
Area
 • Total 4,180.7 km2 (1,614.2 sq mi)
 • Land 3,887 km2 (1,501 sq mi)
Area rank #17 in Norway, 1.28% of Norway's land area
Population (2014)
 • Total 284,962
 • Rank 6 (5.61% of country)
 • Density 68/km2 (180/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 7.5 %
Demonym(s) Østfolding
Time zone CET (UTC+01)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+02)
Official language form Bokmål
Income (per capita) 138,600 NOK
GDP (per capita) 200,084 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank 8 (3.30% of country)
Website www.ostfold-f.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1951185,492—    
1961202,751+9.3%
1971221,386+9.2%
1981233,301+5.4%
1991238,345+2.2%
2001251,032+5.3%
2011274,827+9.5%
2021?309,613+12.7%
2031?339,601+9.7%
Source: Statistics Norway.[1]
Religion in Østfold[2][3]
religion percent
Christianity
  
 84.69%
Islam
  
 2.74%
Buddhism
  
 0.44%
Other
  
 12.13%

Østfold [²østfɔl]  ( listen) is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side of Oslofjord. The county's administrative seat is Sarpsborg.

Many manufacturing facilities are situated here, such as the world's most advanced biorefinery, Borregaard in Sarpsborg. Fredrikstad has shipyards. There are granite mines in Østfold and stone from these were used by Gustav Vigeland.

The county slogan is "The heartland of Scandinavia". The local dialect is characterized by its geographical proximity to Sweden.

The name

The old name of the Oslofjord was Fold; Østfold means 'the region east of the Fold' (see also Vestfold). The name was first recorded in 1543; in the Middle Ages the name of the county was Borgarsysla 'the county/sýsla of the city Borg (now Sarpsborg)'. Later, when Norway was under Danish rule, the Danish king divided the area into many baronies. These were merged into one county (amt) in 1662 - and it was then named Smaalenenes Amt 'the amt consisting of small len'. The name was changed back to Østfold in 1919.

History

Østfold is among the nation's oldest inhabited regions, with petroglyphs (rock drawings) and burial mounds throughout the area.

In the Viking Age, the area was part of Vingulmark, which in turn was part of Viken and included Båhuslen. It was partly under Danish rule until the time of Harald Fairhair.

Later, when Norway was under Danish rule, the Danish king divided the area into many baronies. The barony of Heggen og Frøland, consisting of the municipalities Askim, Eidsberg and Trøgstad, originally belonged to Akershus - but it was transferred to Østfold in 1768.

Geography

Østfold sits between the Oslo Fjord and Sweden. It is dominated by flat landscape with a lot of woodland in the north and along the Swedish border, a major lake system in the central part, and densely populated lowland area along the coast, with a relatively large archipelago.

Norway’s longest river, the Glomma, flows through the county and out into the Oslo Fjord in Fredrikstad.

Demography

Most of the county's population is located in the coastal area. The cities of Moss, Sarpsborg, Fredrikstad and Halden are situated here, along with some relatively highly populated rural municipalities. Including these coastal cities, Østfold also has another two cities, Askim and Mysen.

Transport and infrastructure

Østfold is located strategically between Oslo and Sweden. The main highway E6 between Oslo and Gothenburg runs as a motorway through the county from the southern border with Sweden and the border with Akershus county. The main highway E18 between Oslo and Stockholm goes through the county from the Swedish border in a southeast-northwest direction. The railway from Oslo to Gothenburg is running more or less parallelly with E6, and there is also a railway between Ski and Sarpsborg that covers the inner part. There is no public airport in the county. Moss Airport was one but is now closed. The main airport for Østfold is the Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, with a population of more than 2 million people within two hours distance.

Municipalities

Østfold has 18 municipalities:

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is from modern times (1958). The lines represent sunrays at sunrise in the east. (See above under the name.) They also represent the worship of the Sun in the Bronze Age (depicted in several rock carvings found in the county).

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd gen.)
in Østfold by country of origin in 2017[4]
Nationality Population (2017)
 Poland 6,711
 Iraq 4,470
 Somalia 3,068
 Kosovo 2,695
 Sweden 2,620
 Bosnia-Herzegovina 2,372
 Vietnam 1,889
 Lithuania 1,822
 Syria 1,334
 Denmark 1,291
 Iran 1,270
 Pakistan 1,188
 Philippines 1,008
 Thailand 992
 Germany 967
 Russia 879
 Turkey 829
 Afghanistan 816
 Iceland 579
 United Kingdom 494

Notable people

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Projected population - Statistics Norway
  2. ↑ Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.
  3. ↑ Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010
  4. ↑ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

Coordinates: 59°20′00″N 11°20′00″E / 59.33333°N 11.33333°E / 59.33333; 11.33333

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.