Hof, Vestfold

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Hof kommune
—  Municipality  —

Coat of arms

Vestfold within
Norway
Hof within Vestfold
Coordinates (city): 59°33′56″N 10°2′10″E / 59.56556°N 10.03611°E / 59.56556; 10.03611Coordinates: 59°33′56″N 10°2′10″E / 59.56556°N 10.03611°E / 59.56556; 10.03611
Country Norway
County Vestfold
Municipality ID NO-0714
Administrative centre Hof
Government
 - Mayor (2007) Lars Joakim Tveit (H)
Area (Nr. 353 in Norway)
 - Total 163 km2 (62.9 sq mi)
 - Land 148 km2 (57.1 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 - Total 3,058
 - Density 20/km2 (51.8/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) 11.2 %
 - Rank in Norway 270
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.hof.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Hof is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hof. The municipality of Hof was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Hof had 3,031 inhabitants as of on 1 January 2002.

Contents

[edit] General information

[edit] Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hof farm (Old Norse: Hof), since the first church was built here. The name is identical with the word hof which means "pagan temple (for the Norse Gods)".[1]

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 17 July 1992. The arms show three gold-colored water lily leaves on a red background. This was chosen to represent the many small lakes in the municipality. There are three to represent the three church parishes in the municipality. It was designed by Geir Helgen from Buskerud.[2]

[edit] Geography

The municipality of Hof covers 164 square kilometres (63 sq mi), of which 140 square kilometres (54 sq mi) is land, 17.9 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi) is farmland and 125.1 square kilometres (48.3 sq mi) is forests. The municipality consists of the three parishes of Hof, Eidsfoss, and Sundbyfoss. The highest point in Vestfold, Skibergfjell, is located in the northern part of Hof municipality, close to Eidsfoss. Skibergfjell is 632 metres (2,073 ft).

[edit] Economy

Hof is a typical agricultural and forestry municipality and its largest industry is a lumber mill. Hof lies in the climate zone best suited for agriculture in Norway. Therefore, wheat is one of the most important agricultural products of the municipality. Hof is known for its great hunting and fishing resources.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1907). Norske gaardnavne: Jarlsberg og Larviks amt (6 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 53. http://books.google.com/books?id=3YpBAAAAIAAJ.  (Norwegian)
  2. ^ "Kommunevåpen". Hof kommune. http://www.hof.kommune.no/Om-Hof/Kommunevapen/. Retrieved 2009-01-13.  (Norwegian)

[edit] External links