Østfold

Østfold fylke
—  County  —
Coat of arms
Østfold within Norway
Country	Norway
County	Østfold
Region	Østlandet
County ID	NO-01
Official language form	Bokmål
Demonym	Østfolding
Administrative centre	Sarpsborg
Government
– Governor	Anne Enger   Senterpartiet   (2003–present)
– County mayor	Ole Haabeth   Arbeiderpartiet   (2007–present)
Area(#17 in Norway, 1.28% of Norway's land area)
– Total	4,182 km2 (1,614.7 sq mi)
– Land	3,887 km2 (1,500.8 sq mi)
Population (2008)
– Total	267,039
– Density	66/km2 (170.9/sq mi)
– Change (10 years)	7.5 %
– Rank in Norway	6 (5.61% of country)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+02)
Income (per capita)	138,600 NOK
GDP (per capita)	200,084 NOK (2001)
National Rank:	8 (3.30% of country)
Website	www.ostfold-f.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	±%
1951	185,492	—
1961	202,751	+9.3%
1971	221,386	+9.2%
1981	233,301	+5.4%
1991	238,345	+2.2%
2001	251,032	+5.3%
2011	274,827	+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 (help·info) is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.

Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss (Moss Verft) and Fredrikstad have shipyards. There are granite mines located in Østfold and granite stone from these was used by Gustav Vigeland.

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

The name

The old name of the Oslofjord was Fold, and the meaning of Østfold is '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)'.

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 Swedish 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.)

To this day, in contrast with many other traditional districts of Norway, Østfold is culturally not a unity, but rather a mosaic of areas around the various cities and towns. Under Danish rule the county was called Smaalenenes Amt 'the amt consisting of small len'.

Geography

Østfold is located between the Oslo Fjord and Sweden. It is dominated by a hilly 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. Besides, there are plans to relocate a vast part of the Oslo-Stockholm railway, which would result in an extension of the Inner Østfold railway eastwards.

Moss Airport in Rygge - is the only public airport in the county. As of now, Norwegian Air Shuttle is the main company supplying this airport with several domestic and international flights. The airport serves as an addition to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, with a population of more than 2 million people within two hours distance.

Municipalities

Østfold has a total of 18 Municipalities:

Aremark Askim Eidsberg Fredrikstad Halden Hobøl Hvaler Marker Moss Rakkestad Rygge Rømskog Råde Sarpsborg Skiptvet Spydeberg Trøgstad Våler

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).

Notable people

• Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) - Explorer of polar regions
• Berit Ås - Politician, professor and feminist.
• Thea Foss (1857–1927) - founder of Foss Maritime
• Egil Olsen - Norwegian Football coach.
• Karl Ouren (1882–1943) - Norwegian-American artist
• Petter Solberg - Rally driver
• Nils Otto Tank (1800–1864) - Moravian Church religious leader
• Harald Zwart - Movie director and producer

External links

• Østfold fylke website (in Norwegian and English)
• Statistics and basic interpretation regarding Østfold (in Norwegian)
• Excavation of longhouse from the Roman Iron Age

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

Coordinates: 59°20′00″N 11°20′00″E / 59.3333333°N 11.3333333°E / 59.3333333; 11.3333333