Southern Norway

"Sørlandet" redirects here. For the ship, see Sørlandet (ship). For the newspaper, see Sørlandet (newspaper).

Southern Norway Sørlandet
Region (landsdel)
Descending, from top: Lindesnes fyr, Bystranda in Kristiansand, Kardemommeby in Kristiansand Zoo, The Lista beaches, Downtown Kristiansand, Flekkerøy outside Kristiansand, Arendal, Risør, Brekkestø in Lillesand, Mandal. Collage of Sørlandet
Country	Norway
Capital	Kristiansand, Arendal
Counties (fylker)	Aust-Agder Vest-Agder
Area
• Total	16,434 km2 (6,345 sq mi)
Population  (2009)
• Total	277,250
• Density	17/km2 (44/sq mi)
Demonym	Southlendic people

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1951	172,753	—
1960	185,302	+7.3%
1970	215,874	+16.5%
1980	225,429	+4.4%
1990	240,906	+6.9%
2000	257,869	+7.0%
2010	279,024	+8.2%
Source: Statistics Norway [1][2].

Religion in Southern Norway
religion			percent
Christianity			86.41%
Islam			1.08%
Buddhism			0.30%
Other			12.21%

Southern Norway (Template:Lang-no) (lit. "south country") is the geographical region (landsdel) of the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway consisting of the two counties of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. The total combined area of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder is 16,493 square kilometres (6,368 sq mi).

History

The name Agder is around 1500 years old and means edge, edge of the land towards the sea, but Agder (Vest and Aust) was never a region of its self. It was a border land between Eastern Norway and Western Norway. Western Norway started outside of Telemark and was an important place cause of the shore. The old main road from Oslo through Kristiansand to Stavanger was called Western Main Road and Skagerrak was often called Agdersiden.

Southern Norway is the youngest region of Norway, it was established short after Northern Norway. The first village builder was Vilhelm Krag who thought Southern Norway should have been bigger than it is today, from Egersund to Grenland, but even today it isn't entirely sure where the border goes. All the way back in 1865, it was talked about "the southern Norway boats". These boats were built in Lista and the invention was from a man from Lofoten, Northern Norway. So the expression "Sørlandet" first appeared in 1902.

The name and modern concept of this part of the country being considered as a separate region was introduced as late as 1902 by the local author Vilhelm Krag. Prior to this, the area was considered part of Western Norway. Southern Norway coincides roughly with the historic petty kingdom of Agder, which lends its name to the two constituent counties: Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder, as well as the University of Agder.

Occasionally, adjacent parts of the county of Rogaland and Telemark might be considered part of this region, as well.

If defined as an informal region, Southern Norway is perhaps more properly defined as the Skagerrak coastal belt, thus excluding the inland valleys to the north.

In the Middle Ages, the easternmost border of the Agder region was Rygjarbit right north or south of today's Risør.

List of cities and towns

About 80% of the population of the two counties live along the coast, which has the warmest climate as well as offering quick access to the rich fishing grounds and maritime roads of the Skagerrak. In Southern Norway there are also a number of smaller inland municipalities. Key industries are forestry, agriculture and tourism. There are also popular ski resorts like Hovden in the valley of Setesdal and Bortelid in Åseral municipality. The list of the cities and towns in Southern Norway are:

Coat of arms	City	Adm. center	Population (2015)	Region	Location	County	Photo	Map	Language
	Kristiansand	Kvadraturen	87,446	Kristiansandregionen	Coast City	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Arendal	Arendal	44,219	Østre Agder	Coast	Aust-Agder			Bokmål
	Grimstad	Grimstad	20,497	Østre Agder	Coast	Aust-Agder			Bokmål
	Mandal	Mandal	15,061	Lindesnesregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Vennesla	Vennesla	14,095	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Søgne	Tangvall	11,217	Kristiansandregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Farsund	Farsund	9,433	Listerregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Flekkefjord	Flekkefjord	9,069	Listerregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Lillesand	Lillesand	9,040	Kristiansandregionen	Coast	Aust-Agder			Bokmål
	Lyngdal	Alleen	8,335	Listaregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Risør	Risør	6,894	Østre Agder	Coast	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Songdalen	Nodeland	6,354	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Kvinesdal	Liknes	5,984	Listerregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Froland	Blakstad	5,532	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Lindesnes	Vigeland	4,880	Lindesnesregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder			Bokmål
	Birkenes	Birkeland	4,689	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Evje og Hornnes	Evje	3,567	Setesdal	Inland	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Gjerstad	Gjerstad	2,478	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder			Bokmål
	Marnardal	Heddeland	2,294	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Vegårshei	Myra	2,018	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Sirdal	Tonstad	1,838	Listerregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Åmli	Åmli	1,832	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder			Nynorsk
	Audnedal	Konsmo	1,750	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Netrual
	Hægebostad	Tingvatn	1,693	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Nynorsk
	Iveland	Birketveit	1,315	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Aust-Agder			Netrual
	Valle	Valle	1,251	Setesdal	Inland	Aust-Agder			Nynorsk
	Bygland	Bygland	1,189	Setesdal	Inland	Aust-Agder			Nynorsk
	Bykle	Bykle	933	Setesdal	Inland	Aust-Agder			Nynorsk
	Åseral	Kyrkjebygda	925	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder			Nynorsk

Image gallery

• 
  Kirkehavn on Hidra, Vest-Agder, Norway
• 
  Lighthouse on Cape Lindesnes
• 
  Arendal
• 
  Risør
• 
  Brekkestø
• 
  Kristiansand harbor

See also

• Demographics of Southern Norway
• Kashubian vetch - Sørlandsvikke (Kasjubiasvikke)

External links

• South Norway travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Southern Norway www.visitnorway.com
• Getting to Southern Norway and around
• Agder
• Visit Sørlandet
• University of Agder
• Tonal characteristics of some varieties of spoken South Norwegian.