Larvik kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Vestfold within Norway
Larvik within Vestfold
Coordinates (city): 59°4′52″N 10°0′59″E / 59.08111°N 10.01639°E / 59.08111; 10.01639Coordinates: 59°4′52″N 10°0′59″E / 59.08111°N 10.01639°E / 59.08111; 10.01639
Country	Norway
County	Vestfold
Municipality ID	NO-0709
Administrative centre	Larvik
Government
- Mayor (2003)	Øyvind Riise Jenssen (H)
Area (Nr. 199 in Norway)
- Total	535 km2 (206.6 sq mi)
- Land	501 km2 (193.4 sq mi)
Population (2006-1-1)
- Total	41,211
- Density	82/km2 (212.4/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	5.5 %
- Rank in Norway	17
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form	Bokmål
Norwegian demonym	Larviking Larviker Larvikar[1]
Website	www.larvik.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Larvik (help·info) is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Larvik kommune - has about 41 364 inhabitants and covers 530 km2.

The city of Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The city of Stavern and the rural municipalities of Brunlanes, Hedrum, and Tjølling were merged into the municipality of Larvik on 1 January 1988.

Larvik has a daily ferry connection to the town of Hirtshals in Denmark.

Contents 1 General information 1.1 Name 1.2 Coat-of-arms 2 History 3 Geography 4 Notable residents 4.1 Honorary citizens 5 International relations 5.1 Twin towns — Sister cities 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] General information

[edit] Name

The Old Norse form of the name must have been Lagarvík. The first element is the genitive case of logr which means "water" or "river" (now called the Numedalslågen river) and the last element is vík which means "inlet". Therefore the meaning is "the inlet at the mouth of (Numedals)lågen". Prior to 1889, the name was written "Laurvik" or "Laurvig".

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted in 1989. The arms are blue with a silver-colored mast with three sails to represent the maritime traditions of the municipality.

[edit] History

The city of Larvik (in contemporaneous Danish spelling: Laurvig) was founded in 1671 by Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve, who became the first count of Laurvig. The castle can still be vistited today. Larvik houses the Treschow estate which is currently owned by Mille-Marie Treschow "Norway's richest woman.". The Treschow estate was created in the 1820s when the last count of Laurvig was declared bankrupt.

[edit] Geography

The municipality is approximately 105 kilometres (65 mi) southwest of Oslo. The municipality covers an area of 530 square kilometres (200 sq mi), and has a population of 41,211 (23,100 of which in the town). The economy of the municipality relies heavily on agriculture, commerce and services, light industry and transportation.

The district also includes the town of Stavern (population: 5,000) and the villages of Nevlunghavn, Helgeroa, Kvelde, Hvarnes, and Tjølling. Notable geographical features include the lake Farris and the river Numedalslågen, locally called Lågen, which terminates in Larvik, east of the town.

Larvik is also noted for its natural springs of mineral water, Farriskildene, which have been commercially exploited under the brand name Farris. At Kaupang in Tjølling, lie the remains of the medieval Skiringssal trading outpost. Larvik is also home to the world's northernmost natural occurrence of Fagus sylvatica forests (European Beech tree or Norwegian: Bøkeskogen).

[edit] Notable residents

Ingvar Ambjørnsen (1956), author Jarle Andhøy (1977), Sailor and adventurer Colin Archer (1832-1921), shipbuilder Thomas Archer, Australian pastoralist Anette Bøe (1957), cross-country skier Niels Christian Ditleff (1888-1956), diplomat, architect of White Buses operation Lasse Gjertsen (1984), animator Gunnar Halle (1965), professional footballer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), ethnographer and adventurer Espen Hoff, (1981), footballer Anne Holt (1958), author and former politician (Minister of Justice and the Police)

Jørn Lier Horst (1970), crime writer Bjørg Eva Jensen (1960), speed skater Morten Mangelrød Olsen (1884-1975), Shipbuilder and sea captain Bertrand Narvesen (1860-1939), entrepreneur Arne Nordheim (1931), composer Carl Nesjar (1920), artist Dag Erik Pedersen (1959), TV-personality and former professional cyclist Roger Strøm (1966), speed skater

Tom Sundby (1960), professional footballer Johan Sverdrup (1816-1892), politician, former prime minister of Norway Erling Tambs (1888-1967), author and sailor Gunnar Thoresen (1920), footballer Hallvar Thoresen (1957), professional footballer Mille-Marie Treschow (1954) Herman Wildenvey, (1885-1959), poet. Born in Nedre Eiker, but resided in Stavern, Larvik Oscar Wisting (1871-1936), polar explorer

[edit] Honorary citizens

Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Antonio Bibalo, Thor Heyerdahl, Carl Nesjar and Arne Nordheim are honorary citizens of Larvik.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] International relations

[edit] Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Larvik:^[2]

• Borlänge, Dalarna County, Sweden
• Frederikshavn, Region Nordjylland, Denmark
• Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland
• Malbork, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland

[edit] See also

• Mølen
• Larvikite

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Larvik

Look up Larvik in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Vestfold travel guide from Wikitravel
• Larvik travel guide from Wikitravel
• iBrunlanes.no (Norwegian)
• Municipal web site (Norwegian)
• Live Camera - Larvik Square (Norwegian)
• Live Camera - 10 cameras from Larvik (Norwegian)
• Visitlarvik.no

v • d • e Municipalities of Vestfold Andebu · Hof · Holmestrand · Horten · Lardal · Larvik · Nøtterøy · Re · Sande · Sandefjord · Stokke · Svelvik · Tjøme · Tønsberg

v • d • e 40 most populous urban settlements (cities) of Norway as of 2009, according to Statistics Norway [1] 1. Oslo 876,400 2. Bergen 227,800 3. Stavanger / Sandnes 189,800 4. Trondheim 157,100 5. Fredrikstad / S'borg1 101,700 6. Drammen 96,600 7. Skien / Porsgrunn 86,900 8. Kristiansand 67,500 9. Tromsø 55,100 10. Tønsberg 47,500 11. Ålesund 46,500 12. Haugesund 42,900 13. Moss 41,700 14. Sandefjord 40,800 15. Bodø 36,500 16. Arendal 32,400 17. Hamar 30,000 18. Larvik 23,900 19. Halden 23,000 20. Lillehammer 20,100 21. Harstad 19,500 22. Molde 19,400 23. Kongsberg 18,800 24. Gjøvik 18,700 25. Askøy 18,300 26. Horten 18,200 27. Mo i Rana 17,900 28. Kristiansund 17,000 29. Jessheim 15,300 30. Hønefoss 14,300 31. Narvik 13,900 32. Alta 13,600 33. Elverum 13,500 34. Askim 13,100 35. Ski 12,900 36. Drøbak 12,400 37. Nesoddtangen 11,600 38. Steinkjer 11,500 39. Leirvik 11,400 40. Vennesla 11,400 41. Kongsvinger 11,400 42. Stjørdalshalsen 10,800 1 Sarpsborg.