Viken (county)Viken is a county under disestablishment in Eastern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 by the merger of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold with the addition of the municipalities of Jevnaker, Lunner and the former municipality of Svelvik. Viken was controversial from the onset, with an approval rating of about 20% in the region, and the merger was resisted by all the three counties. Viken has been compared to gerrymandering.
VestfoldVestfold (ˈvɛ̂stfɔɫ) is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered the previous Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration was located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the largest city is Sandefjord. With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold was the smallest county in Norway by area.
Stave churchA stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse (stav in modern Norwegian). Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church, are often called 'stave churches'. Originally much more widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway.
KongsbergKongsberg (ˈkɔ̂ŋːsbær(ɡ)) is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production and forestry for centuries, and is the site of high technology industry including the headquarters of Norway's largest defence contractor Kongsberg Gruppen.
NumedalNumedal (ˈnʉ̀ːmədɑːɫ) is a valley and a traditional district in Eastern Norway located within the county of Buskerud. It traditionally includes the municipalities Flesberg, Nore og Uvdal and Rollag. Administratively, it now also includes Kongsberg. Numedal is the southernmost valley of the major valleys in Eastern Norway. Numedal is largely a U-shaped valley. Most of the area is mountainous, especially west of the main valley, with steep valley sides.
ØstfoldØstfold (ˈœ̂stfɔɫ) is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders 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 was Sarpsborg. The county controversially became part of the newly established Viken County on 1 January 2020. On 1 January 2024, Østfold will be re-established as an independent county, however without the former municipality of Rømskog, which was amalgamated with the Akershus municipality Aurskog-Høland in 2020.
TelemarkTelemark (ˈtêːləmɑrk) is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional regions and former counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The name Telemark means the "mark of the Thelir", the ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited what is now known as Upper Telemark in the Migration Period and the Viking Age.
Nore og UvdalNore og Uvdal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rødberg. The area of Nore was separated from the municipality of Rollag in 1858. The municipality of Nore was divided into two municipalities on 1 January 1901: Nore and Uvdal. These two municipalities were merged back together on 1 January 1962, and the new municipality was called Nore og Uvdal. The municipalities of Nore and Uvdal were joined together in 1962 into Nore og Uvdal.
Eastern NorwayEastern Norway (Østlandet, Austlandet) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Vestfold og Telemark, Viken, Oslo and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norway. It contains the country's capital, Oslo, which is Norway's most populous city. In Norwegian, the region is called Østlandet and Austlandet ("The east land") in contrast to Vestlandet ("The west land"). As of 2015, the region had 2,593,085 inhabitants, 50.4% of Norway's population.
SigdalSigdal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss. The municipality of Sigdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Krødsherad was separated from Sigdal on 1 January 1901. The municipality has common borders with the municipalities of Flå, Krødsherad, Modum, Øvre Eiker, Flesberg, Rollag, and Nore og Uvdal. The Old Norse form of the name was Sigmardalr or Sigmudalr.