Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Telemark

 
 
Telemark ('ləmärk), county (1995 pop. 163,143), 5,915 sq mi (15,320 sq km), SE Norway, bordering on the Skagerrak in the east. Skien (the capital), Porsgrunn, Kragerø, and Notodden are the chief towns. The county includes the Hardangervidda plateau in the northwest and the Tokke River, and it is noted for its lakes, mountain scenery, and handicrafts. Farming, mining, fishing, lumbering, and the manufacture of forest products, chemicals, and porcelain are the main occupations. Much hydroelectric power is produced in Telemark. It was there that skiing as a sport first became popular (late 19th cent.).


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wikipedia: Telemark
Top
Telemark fylke
—  County  —

Coat of arms
Telemark within Norway
Country Norway
County Telemark
Region Østlandet
County ID NO-08
Official language form Neutral
Demonym Teledøl or Telemarking
Administrative centre Skien
Government
 - Governor Kari Nordheim-Larsen
  Arbeiderpartiet
  (2006–present)
 - County Mayor Gunn Marit Helgesen
  Høyre
  (2003–present)
Area (#10 in Norway, 4.55% of Norway's land area)
 - Total 15,299 km2 (5,907 sq mi)
 - Land 13,854 km2 (5,349.1 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 - Total 167,102
 - Density 12/km2 (31.1/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) 1.8 %
 - Rank in Norway 13 (3.63% of nation)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Income (per capita) 139,900 NOK
GDP (per capita) 219,404 NOK (2001)
National Rank: 12 (2.38% of nation)
Website www.telemark-fk.no
Data from Statistics Norway
Historical populations
Year Pop.  %±
1951 136,519
1960 149,539 9.5%
1970 156,917 4.9%
1980 161,673 3.0%
1990 162,981 0.8%
2000 165,038 1.3%
2007 166,170 0.7%
2008 166,731 0.3%
2009 167,548 0.5%
Source: Statistics Norway.

Telemark.ogg Telemark is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.

Contents

Location

The county is located in southeastern Norway, extending from Hardangervidda to the Skagerrak coast. The coastline extends from Langesundsfjorden to Gjernestangen at the border to Aust-Agder. Telemark has a very broken and heterogeneous landscape, including many hills and valleys.

Population

The largest population centres are Skien, Porsgrunn, Notodden, Rjukan and Kragerø. Other important places are , Fyresdal and Vinje.

The name

The Norse form of the name was Þelamörk. The first element is the genitive plural case of þelir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is mörk f 'woodland, borderland'. (See also Hedmark and Finnmark.)

Until 1919 the county was called Bratsberg amt. The amt was named after the farm Bratsberg (Norse Brattsberg), since this was the seat of the amtmann ('governor'). The first element is the genitive case of brattr m 'steep mountain', the last element is berg n 'mountain'. (The name is referring to a steep mountainside behind the farm.)

Telemark lent its name to Telemark skiing, a style invented by Sondre Norheim, and the characteristic Telemark landing of ski jumping.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1970). It shows an old type of battle axe, significant for the county.

History

Some historians used to believe that Telemark had been a petty kingdom in the early Viking Age, prior to the reign of Harald Fairhair. This assertion, however, is unfounded.

The film The Heroes of Telemark is loosely based on the Norwegian heavy water sabotage, a raid on a heavy water plant at Rjukan during World War II. Ray Mears made a documentary titled The Real Heroes of Telemark as a response to the inaccuracies of the film, giving an account more focused on the outdoor skills that were required for the operation (spending months in remote cabins).

Notable people born in Telemark

Districts

The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are Grenland, Vest-Telemark, Midt-Telemark, Øst-Telemark and Vestmar.

Municipalities

Location of Telemark Municipalities

Telemark County has a total of 18 municipalities:

  1. Bamble
  2. Drangedal
  3. Fyresdal
  4. Hjartdal
  5. Kragerø
  6. Kviteseid
  7. Nissedal
  8. Nome
  9. Notodden
  10. Porsgrunn
  11. Sauherad
  12. Seljord
  13. Siljan
  14. Skien
  15. Tinn
  16. Tokke
  17. Vinje

External links

References

Coordinates: 59°20′00″N 08°30′00″E / 59.3333333°N 8.5°E / 59.3333333; 8.5


Best of the Web: Telemark
Top

Some good "Telemark" pages on the web:


Cattle
www.ansi.okstate.edu
 
 
 
Learn More
Gulseth (family name)
Hegna (family name)
Skien (city, Norway)

Where was Telemark Research Base? Read answer...

Help us answer these
What are steps to telemark dance fiqure?
Pls explain dance step open telemark turn?
Why ski blades vs alpine vs telemark skis?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Telemark" Read more

 

Mentioned in