Buskerud

Buskerud fylke
County

Coat of arms

Buskerud within Norway
Country Norway
County Buskerud
Region Østlandet
County ID NO-06
Administrative centre Drammen
Government
 • Governor Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl
  Arbeiderpartiet
  (1999–present)
 • County mayor Morten Eriksrød
  Conservative Party
  (2011–present)
Area
 • Total 14,908 km2 (5,756 sq mi)
 • Land 13,794 km2 (5,326 sq mi)
Area rank #12 in Norway, 4.53% of Norway's land area
Population (2014)
 • Total 271.252
 • Rank 8 (5.29% of country)
 • Density 18/km2 (50/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 6.7 %
Demonym(s) Buskerudfolk
Time zone CET (UTC+01)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+02)
Official language form Neutral
Income (per capita) 155,400 NOK
GDP (per capita) 227,626 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank 7 (3.57% of country)
Website www.bfk.no
Data from Statistics Norway
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1951156,220—    
1961168,351+7.8%
1971198,852+18.1%
1981214,571+7.9%
1991225,261+5.0%
2001238,833+6.0%
2011261,110+9.3%
2021?300,142+14.9%
2031?332,808+10.9%
Source: Statistics Norway.[1]
Religion in Buskerud[2][3]
religion percent
Christianity
  
 83.01%
Islam
  
 3.14%
Buddhism
  
 0.31%
Other
  
 13.54%

Buskerud [ˈbʉskəˈrʉːd]  ( listen) is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The county extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardangervidda mountain range in the northwest. The county administration is located in Drammen.[4]

Map of Buskerud County

Etymology

The county is named after the old manor Buskerud (Old Norse: Biskupsruð) located on the west side of the Drammen River in Åmot, Modum municipality. The first element is the genitive case of biskup m 'bishop' (referring to the Bishop of Hamar), the last element is ruð n 'clearing, farm'. The farm was one of the largest in Buskerud, and the original name of the farm (before it became a benefice) was probably Modum. At the time of the Reformation (ca. 1536–39) the farm became property of the Crown at which time the farm then served as the residence of the king's bailiffs until 1668.[5][6][7]

Geography

Winter in Blefjell

Buskerud extends from Hurum at the Oslofjord to the Halling mountains and Hardanger. The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are Hallingdal, Numedal, Ringerike, Lower Buskerud, which was originally part of Vestfold, and Western Vingulmark.

Hallingdal consists of Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.[8] Numedal consists of Flesberg, Rollag and Nore og Uvdal.[9] Ringerike consists of Hole, Krødsherad, Modum, Ringerike and Sigdal. Western Vingulmark consists of Hurum and Røyken.[10][11] Lower Buskerud consists of Drammen, Hurum, Kongsberg, Lier, Nedre Eiker, Røyken and Øvre Eiker. The district is merged from parts that belonged to Vestfold and Vingulmark.[12]

Buskerud's western part is a mountainous plateau with forested valleys and high, grassy pastures; its eastern part contains a lowland basin with many lakes and streams. Tyrifjorden and Krøderen are the biggest lakes. Numedalslågen, the third longest river in Norway, starting in Hordaland, runs through Buskerud unto Vestfold where it reaches the sea, while river Begna sweeps into lake Sperillen.

History

Buskerud was separated from Akershus as an amt of its own in 1685, but the of the amt was smaller than today. It then consisted of the present districts Eiker, Hallingdal, and Ringerike. The area of the present municipalities of Flesberg, Hurum, Kongsberg, Lier, Nore og Uvdal, Rollag and Røyken were transferred from Akershus amt to Buskerud amt in 1760. The name Buskeruds amt was changed to Buskerud fylke in 1919. The municipality of Skoger was transferred from Vestfold to Buskerud in 1964.[13]

The area Ringerike may once have been a small kingdom. During the 10th century, Norway's kings Olav Trygvason and Olav Haraldsson grew up at Bønsnes in Ringerike. In the valley of Numedal, silver has been mined in Kongsberg from the 17th century until discontinued in 1957. Weapons industry had been developed in Kongsberg from 1814, and various high tech industry companies now represent the town's major employers. At Modum there was also Blaafarveværket, a Cobalt pigment production works (Blue Colour Works).[14]

Economy

Today, agriculture, lumber, wood-pulp mills and other related industries are the county's main economic activities; ample hydroelectric power is produced by the rivers Begna (Begnaelva) and Rands (Randselva) . Buskerud has also a large forested area. Substantial income is derived from high tech industries located in Kongsberg. Other significant income comes from the cabin areas in northern Buskerud.[15][16]

Coat of arms

Buskerud's coat of arms were adopted in April 1966. It features a blue bear whose colours are symbolic of the blue colour works. The silver background of Buskerud's coat of arms represents the silver industry in Kongsberg.

Notable people from Buskerud

Sports figures

Other (Musician, TV-Star, TV-Hosts)

Municipalities

Municipalities in Buskerud
Rank Name Inhabitants[17] Area km2
1 Drammen 62,566 136
2 Ringerike 28,806 1,437
3 Kongsberg 24,714 761
4 Lier 23,267 283
5 Nedre Eiker 22,687 116
6 Røyken 18,894 112
7 Øvre Eiker 16,616 421
8 Modum 12,911 468
9 Hurum 9,045 156
10 Hole 5,976 135
11 Ål 4,672 1,083
12 Gol 4,479 517
13 Hol 4,422 1,669
14 Sigdal 3,514 813
15 Nes 3,420 776
16 Flesberg 2,578 542
17 Nore og Uvdal 2,514 2,281
18 Krødsherad 2,117 341
19 Hemsedal 2,087 715
20 Rollag 1,390 484
21 Flå 998 674
Total Buskerud 257,673 12,336
Blaafarveværket in Modum 
Hokksund station in Øvre Eiker 
Krøderen station in Krødsherad 
Frogner rectory in Lier 
Honefoss church in Ringerike 

References

  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 Archived November 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Buskerud". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Einar Sørensen. "Buskerud gård på Modum". historieboka. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Buskerud hovedgård". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Buskerud, Modum herad". Matrikkelutkastet av 1950. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Hallingdal". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Numedal". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ Per G. Norseng. "Vestfold – gammelt navn". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ Svein Askheim. "Vingulmark". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  12. ↑ Munch, Peter Andreas (1849). Historisk-geographisk beskrivelse over kongeriget Norge (Noregsveldi) i middelalderen. W. Gram. pp. 5–7.
  13. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Ringerike, Hallingdal, Eiker og Buskeruds amt". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  14. ↑ Ingolf Jarle Rui. "Modum Blaafarveværk". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ Geir Thorsnæs. "Begna". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  16. ↑ Asbjørn Vinjar. "Randselva". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  17. ↑ Statistisk Sentralbyrå (1 January 2010). "www.ssb.no".
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Buskerud.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buskerud.

Coordinates: 60°30′00″N 09°30′00″E / 60.50000°N 9.50000°E / 60.50000; 9.50000

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