Aker, Norway

Aker (from the Old Norse "akr" m 'field, acre') is a former municipality in Akershus, which lends its name to a municipality and a county in Norway. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church, the church in turn being the source of the name for the municipality and county.

Aker was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was subdivided in 1861 into Østre and Vestre Aker, and in 1906 was further subdivided into Ullern and Nordstrand. On 1 January 1948 Aker municipality was incorporated into the city of Oslo. The municipality had 135,000 inhabitants and included the residential areas of Ullern, Vestre Aker, Østre Aker and Nordstrand, as well as the outlying areas were all incorporated into Oslo.

Since the city of Christiania was founded in 1624, Aker had been the source of territory for expansion of the city. The first expansion came as early as 1629, when a number of farms were transferred inside the city "Bymark". The "Bymark" area lay under the city’s civil administration, but for ecclesiastical purposes remained part of Aker's parish. Aker borders "Bymark" on the west side of the Skillebekken [Skillebekk is a former suburb of Oslo.] , and on the east side, the river Akerselva. The entire Bymark and portions of the Akerselva were incorporated into the city in 1859. Adjustments were made again in 1878 and Aker was finally fully incorporated into Oslo in 1948.

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