Southern Norway

Southern Norway

Sørlandet
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^[1]^[2]
religion			percent
Christianity			86.41%
Islam			1.08%
Buddhism			0.30%
Other			12.21%

Southern Norway (Norwegian: Sørlandet) (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).^[3]

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^[4] 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:

City	Adm. center	Population (2015)	Region	Location	County	Language
Kristiansand	Kvadraturen	90,000	Kristiansandsregionen	Coast	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	Bokmål
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	Bokmål
Songdalen	Nodeland	6,354	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder	Bokmål
Kvinesdal	Liknes	5,984	Listerregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder	Bokmål
Froland	Blakstad	5,532	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder	Bokmål
Lindesnes	Vigeland	4,880	Lindesnesregionen	Coast	Vest-Agder	Bokmål
Birkenes	Birkeland	4,689	Kristiansandregionen	Inland	Aust-Agder	Bokmål
Evje og Hornnes	Evje	3,567	Setesdal	Inland	Aust-Agder	Bokmål
Gjerstad	Gjerstad	2,478	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder	Bokmål
Marnardal	Heddeland	2,294	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder	Bokmål
Vegårshei	Myra	2,018	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder	Bokmål
Sirdal	Tonstad	1,838	Listerregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder	Nynorsk
Åmli	Åmli	1,832	Østre Agder	Inland	Aust-Agder	Nynorsk
Audnedal	Konsmo	1,750	Lindesnesregionen	Inland	Vest-Agder	Nynorsk
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