Sandefjord (sä'nəfyôr), town (1995 pop. 37,084), Vestfold co., SE Norway, near the mouth of the Oslofjord. An important shipping center since the 14th cent. and a former whaling port, it is now a seaside resort. The town has shipyards, chemical works, and food-processing plants.
Sandefjord
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| Sandefjord kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates (city): 59°8′45″N 10°13′25″E / 59.14583°N 10.22361°ECoordinates: 59°8′45″N 10°13′25″E / 59.14583°N 10.22361°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Vestfold | ||
| Municipality ID | NO-0706 | ||
| Administrative centre | Sandefjord | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor (2004) | Bjørn Ole Gleditsch (H) | ||
| Area (Nr. 370 in Norway) | |||
| - Total | 121 km2 (46.7 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 119 km2 (45.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| - Total | 42,333 | ||
| - Density | 338.8/km2 (877.5/sq mi) | ||
| - Change (10 years) | 11.5 % | ||
| - Rank in Norway | 16 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Norwegian demonym | Sandefjording[1] | ||
| Website | www.sandefjord.kommune.no | ||
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Sandefjord (help·info) is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Sandar was merged into the municipality of Sandefjord on 1 January 1968.
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General information
Name
The name originally belonged to the fjord (now called the Sandefjordsfjord). The first element is the genitive case of the name of the parish and former municipality of Sandar.[2]
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 9 May 1914. The Viking ship symbolizes the famous Gokstad ship, that was found near Sandefjord in 1880, one of the best preserved Vikings ships known. The whale symbolizes the fact that in the late 19th and early 20th century, Sandefjord was a main harbor for whalers in the southern oceans.[3]
History
Gokstad viking ship
One of the most important remains from the Viking age was found at the grave site Gokstadhaugen in Sandefjord. The Gokstad ship was excavated by Nicolay Nicolaysen and is now in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. The Viking, an exact replica of the Gokstad ship, crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Bergen to be exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago during 1893. A replica of Gokstad ship, called Gaia currently has Sandefjord as home port. Other known replicas include the Munin, (a half scale replica) located in Vancouver, BC.
Health resort
Sandefjord was formerly a famous health resort, with various kinds of baths for health improvement. Amongst these were salt water sea baths, mud and sulfur baths. Visitors included royalty, a prime minister, and some of Norway’s foremost cultural personalities. Around 50,000 people, mostly Norwegians, visited the bath from 1837 to 1939. Today the bath's building has been restored and now hosts cultural events and various activities.
Whaling and ships
From 1850, a number of ships from Sandefjord were whaling and sealing in the Arctic Ocean and along the coast of Finnmark. The first whaling expedition from Sandefjord to the Antarctic Ocean was sent in 1905. Towards the end of the 1920s, Sandefjord had a fleet of 15 factory ships and more than 90 whalers. In 1954, more than 2,800 men from the district were hired as crew on the whalers, but from the mid 1950s whaling was gradually reduced. The number of southbound expeditions rapidly decreased during the 1960s, and the 1967/68 season became the last for Sandefjord. The shipping industry was gradually readjusted from whaling to other ship types during this period. The local Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted and Jotun Group Private Ltd. had major roles in this business.
Today, the memories from this important period of the city's history are kept alive through the whaling museum (Hvalfangstmuseet). This museum is the only museum in Europe specializing in whales and the history of whaling. The history of the whalers can also be explored at the Museum's Wharf with a visit aboard the whale-catcher Southern Actor.
Sandefjord also has shipping traditions from tall sailing ships and steam ships. The full rigged sailing ship Christian Radich, three-masted barquentine Endurance, whale catcher Jason and Viking ship replica Viking were a few of the many ships built by Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted.
Geography
The two peninsulas called Østerøya ("Eastern Island") and Vesterøya ("Western Island") contribute to a total coastline of 146 kilometres (91 mi), and form the Sandefjordsfjord and Mefjord. The coastline offers a wide variety of sandy beaches, skerries, and islets (116 in total), along with bays and sloping rocks.
Of Sandefjord's total area, 37.7 square kilometres (14.6 sq mi) is agricultural and 36.2 square kilometres (14.0 sq mi) is forest. Neighbouring towns are Tønsberg and Larvik. A small part of Sandefjord (the Himberg farm) is lying as a exclave inside the borders of the municipality of Larvik.
Townscape
Sandefjord has a good selection of restaurants and cafés. According to the renowned restaurant guide, Salt & Pepper, Sandefjord holds what is possibly Norway’s best gourmet restaurant which is located in a modern building near the harbour. Also located at the harbour, is the fishmonger well known for the excellent quality of its goods and delicacies. Sandefjord has a charming city centre, consisting of a mixture of old and modern buildings and a wide selection of shops.
The whaling monument is located at the end of the city’s main street, Jernbanealléen, in the harbour area. Nearby is a restaurant called Kokeriet, one of the relatively few places where whale meat is regularly served.
Economy
Sandefjord is home to the paint producer Jotun, the brewery Grans Bryggeri, the chocolate factory Hval Sjokoladefabrikk, the engineering company Ramboll Oil & Gas, as well as three of Norway's largest online shops, Komplett.no, mpx.no, and netshop.no.
Transportation
Sandefjord Airport, Torp is located in the municipality. The ferries Bohus and Viking connect the town to Strömstad in Sweden. Sandefjord Airport Station is part of Vestfoldbanen. European route E18 traverses the municipality.
Culture and sports
The local football club, Sandefjord Fotball, plays in the Norwegian Premier League. Sandefjord handball won the men's Premier League in 2005-06. Marius Bakken is successful as a middle distance runner. Other local sports clubs include IL Runar and Sandefjord TIF.
Notable residents
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1845 | 749 | — |
| 1951 | 6,717 | 796.8% |
| 1960 | 6,984 | 4.0% |
| 1970 | 31,752 | 354.6% |
| 1980 | 34,758 | 9.5% |
| 1990 | 35,888 | 3.3% |
| 2000 | 39,317 | 9.6% |
| Sandefjord and Sandar were merged in 1970. Source: SSB | ||
Main category: People from Sandefjord
- Ole Christian Bach, investor (1957-2005)
- Arne Benoni, singer (born 1951)
- Christen Christensen, shipyard, whaling and ship owner (1845-1923)
- Lars Christensen, whaling magnate (1884-1965)
- Berit Eggers (born 1930)
- Karin Fossum, author (born 1954)
- Odd Gleditsch, Sr., co-founder of Jotun Group Private Ltd. (1895-1990)
- Henrik Hagtvedt, artist (born 1971)
- Bent Hamer, film director (born 1956)
- Anita Hegerland, singer (born 1961)
- Anders Jahre, shipping magnate (1891-1982)
- Ronnie Johnsen, footballer (born 1969)
- Carl Anton Larsen, Explorer and founder Antarctic whaling industry (1860-1924)
- Ole Aanderud Larsen, co-founder Jotun Group Private Ltd., ship designer (1884-1964)
- Frank Løke, handball player (born 1980)
- Christian Theodore Pedersen, whaling captain and fur trader (1876-1969)
- Joachim Roenning, film director (born 1972)
- Espen Sandberg, film director (born 1971)
- Dag Solstad, author (born 1941)
- Theodore Theodorsen (1897-1978), Norwegian American theoretical aerodynamicist
See also
- List of schools in Sandefjord
- Sandefjords Blad (local newspaper)
- Skiringssal
- Larvik and Sandefjord metropolitan region
- Sang til Sandefjord
References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskriving_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn.
- ^ Rygh, Oluf (1907). Norske gaardnavne: Jarlsberg og Larviks amt (6 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 260. http://books.google.com/books?id=3YpBAAAAIAAJ. (Norwegian)
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/s/sandefjo.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sandefjord |
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Look up Sandefjord in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
- Vestfold travel guide from Wikitravel
- Sandefjord travel guide from Wikitravel
- Visit Sandefjord
- Cruise Sandefjord
- Whaling Museum
- Gaia - the Viking ship copy
- Kokeriet - restaurant serving whale meat
- Sandefjord Public Library (Norwegian)
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