Aust-Agder

Aust-Agder (, ) was a county (fylke) in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Vest-Agder county to form the new Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The county's administrative center was the town of Arendal.

The county, located along the Skagerrak coast, extended from Gjernestangen in Risør Municipality to the Kvåsefjorden in Lillesand Municipality. The inner parts of the area included Setesdalsheiene and Austheiene mountain areas. Most of the population lived near the coast; about 78% of the county's inhabitants lived in the five coastal municipalities of Arendal, Grimstad, Lillesand, Tvedestrand, and Risør. The rest of the county was sparsely populated. Tourism was also important, as Arendal and the other coastal towns were popular attractions.

The county included the larger islands of Tromøya, Hisøya, Justøya, and Sandøya. The interior of the county encompassed the traditional district of Setesdal, through which the river Otra flows to the coast.

In 2017, the Parliament of Norway voted to merge Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties into one large county called Agder, effective 1 January 2020.

The county was part of the Aust-Agder District Court and the Church of Norway Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Name

The meaning of the name is "(the) eastern (part of) Agder", since the word aust is the Nynorsk form of "east".

Until 1919, the name of the county was Nedenes amt. The amt was named after the old Nedenes farm (Old Norse: Niðarnes), since this was the seat of the amtmann (County Governor). The first element is the genitive case of the river name Nið (now called Nidelva) and the last element is nes which means "headland". The meaning of the river name is unknown.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1958. It showed two horizontal golden bars on a red background. They symbolized the lumber trade and the recovery of iron ore that was important for Aust-Agder's growth. There were two bars to represent the two areas of the county: inland and coastal.

Demographics

Since the census of 1769, Aust-Agder has experienced a steady population growth: from 29,633 to 79,927 in 1900, and to 102,848 in 2001. There was significant emigration to the United States in the 19th century and early 20th century.

Municipalities The system of municipalities, or kommuner, was established in Norway on 1 January 1838, based on previously existing parishes (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Norway had been ceded to Sweden by Denmark in 1814, at which it promptly rebelled and won the right of self-rule, though nominally part of Sweden. In 1905, Norway declared total independence. Meanwhile, as the years progressed, the municipalities did not remain the same, but new ones were formed, old ones broken up, and land was transferred. From the 1990s until its dissolution in 2020, Aust-Agder was divided into 15 municipalities:

No. Name Adm. CenterPopulation Area (km2)0901 Risør Municipality Risør 0904 Grimstad Municipality Grimstad 0906 Arendal Municipality Arendal 0911 Gjerstad Municipality Gjerstad 0912 Vegårshei Municipality Myra 0914 Tvedestrand Municipality Tvedestrand 0919 Froland Municipality Blakstad 0926 Lillesand Municipality Lillesand 0928 Birkenes Municipality Birkeland 0929 Åmli Municipality Åmli 0935 Iveland Municipality Birketveit 0937 Evje og Hornnes Municipality Evje 0938 Bygland Municipality Bygland 0940 Valle Municipality Valle 0941 Bykle Municipality Bykle Total Aust-AgderArendal

Cities

Arendal Grimstad Risør Lillesand Tvedestrand

Parishes

Arendal Austad Austre Moland Barbu Birkenes Bjorbekk Bygland Bykle Old Bykle Dypvåg Eide Engene Evje Færvik Fevik Fjære Fjellgardane Flosta Froland Frydendal Gjerstad Gjøvdal Grimstad Grøvdal, see Gjøvdal Herefoss Hisøy Holt Hommedal Hornnes Hylestad Høvåg Iveland Justøy Laget Landvik Lillesand Mykland Risør Sandnes Stokken Søndeled (Sønneløv) Tovdal Trefoldighet (Trinity) Tromøy Tvedestrand Valle Vegusdal Vegårshei Vestre Moland Østerhus Østre Moland, see Austre Moland Øyestad Åmli Årdal Arendal Branch (LDS, 1864-1914) Arendal Lutherske Frimenighet (1884-1908) Arendal (Den Katolske Apostoliske, 1889-1928) Arendal Metodistkirke (1868-1892) Risør Branch (LDS, 1851-1866) Risør Lutheran Frikirke, (1877-1995) Tvedestrand Baptist Menighet (1892-1895)

Villages

Akland Asdal Askerøya Askland Ausland Austad Bakken Berdalen Besteland Birkeland Birketveit Bjorbekk Bjåen Blakstad Borås Bossvika Bossvika Breive Brekka Brekkestø Brokke Bygland Byglandsfjord Bykle Bøylefoss Bøylestad Dypvåg Dølemo Dåsnesmoen Eikeland Engesland Eppeland Espenes Evje Evjemoen Eydehavn Fevik Fiane, Gjerstad Fiane, Tvedestrand Fie Flakk Flatebygd Flaten Froland Frolands verk Færvik Gautestad Gjennestad Gjerstad Gjeving Goderstad Grendi Gryting Grønland Heldalsmo Helldal Herefoss Hesnes Hillestad (Tovdal) Hinebu His (Hisøy) Holmsund Homborsund Homdrom Homme Hornnes Hoslemo Hovden Hovet Hynnekleiv Hødnebø Høvåg Håbbesland Håbbestad Jomås Jortveit Kalvøysund Kilen Kilsund Kjetså Klåholmen Kolbjørnsvik Kongshamn Krabbesund Kroken Kråkvåg Laget Langeid Lauvdal Lauveik Lauvrak Libru Lindtveit Litveit Longerak Longum Lyngør Løddesøl Løvjomås Merdø Mjølhus Mjåvatn Mo Moen Moi Mollestad Mykland Myra Narestø Nedenes Nelaug Nesgrenda Nipe Nordbygdi Nygrenda Nævesdal Oggevatn Ose Osedalen Pusnes Reddal Revesand Ribe Risdal Rise Roresand Rugsland Rygnestad Rykene Rysstad Rød, Arendal Rød, Gjerstad Rønnes Røysland Sagene Sagesund Saltrød Sandnes, Bygland Sandnes, Risør Sandvika (Borøy) Sennumstad Sivik Skaiå Skåmedal Skiftenes Skjeggedal Songe Staubø Stoa Strengereid Sundebru Svaland Søndeled Søre Herefoss Tjore Trøe Tveide Tveit Ubergsmoen Ulvøysund Uppstad Valle Vatnebu Vatnestrøm Vehus Vesterhus Vestøl Vik Vrengen Væting Ytre Ramse Østerholt Østerhus Østerå Øvre Dåsvatn Øvre Ramse Øyna Åkerøyhamn Åmdalsøyra Åmli Åneland Åraksbø Ås

Former Municipalities

Austre Moland Municipality Barbu Municipality Dypvåg Municipality Eide Municipality Evje Municipality Evje og Vegusdal Municipality Fjære Municipality Flosta Municipality Gjøvdal Municipality Herefoss Municipality Hisøy Municipality Holt Municipality Hornnes Municipality Hornnes og Iveland Municipality Hylestad Municipality Høvåg Municipality Landvik Municipality Moland Municipality Mykland Municipality Stokken Municipality Søndeled Municipality Tovdal Municipality Tromøy Municipality Vegusdal Municipality Vestre Moland Municipality Øyestad Municipality

Aust-Agder

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