Vestfold () is a county in Eastern Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The capital and largest city of the county is Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city.Norum, Roger (2011). Frommer's Norway. Frommer's. Page 4. .Evensberget, Snorre (2012). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Norway. Penguin. Page 230. .Ham, Anthony and Stuart Butler (2015). Lonely Planet Norway. Lonely Planet. Page 87. . With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold is the smallest county in Norway by area.
Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Holmestrand, Horten, Åsgårdstrand, Tønsberg, Sandefjord, Larvik and Stavern; these towns run from Oslo in an almost constant belt of urban areas along the coast, ending in Grenland in neighbouring county Telemark. The river Numedalslågen runs through the county. Many islands are located at the coast. Vestfold is mostly dominated by lowland and is among the best agricultural areas of Norway. Winters last about three months, while pleasant summer temperatures last from May to September, with a July average high of 17 °C (63 °F).
Vestfold is traditionally known for shipping and sailing. Sandefjord was formerly a headquarters for the Norwegian whaling fleet, and Horten used to be Norway's main naval port. The coastal towns of Vestfold now engage in fishing and shipbuilding. Some lumbering is carried on in the interior. The area also includes some of the best farmland in Norway.
Vestfold merged with neighboring Telemark on 1 January 2020 as part of a nationwide municipal reform. The new county was Vestfold og Telemark. Vestfold was re-established on 1 January 2024, following a vote of the county council of Vestfold og Telemark on 15 February 2022 to split the newly established county into its respective counties that existed before the merger took place; Telemark and Vestfold.
Vestfold was until 2019 the only county in which all municipalities had declared Bokmål to be their sole official written form of the Norwegian language. From its re-establishment in 2024, Vestfold is the only county in Norway to have Bokmål as the official written form.
Etymology Vestfold is the old name of the region which was revived in modern times. Fold was the old name of the Oslofjord, and the meaning of the name Vestfold is the region west of the Fold (see also Østfold). Before 1919, the county was called Jarlsberg og Larvik Amt. The amt was created in 1821, consisting of the two old counties of Jarlsberg and Larvik. In the Viking Age, Vestfold also referred to Eiker, Drammen, Kongsberg, Lier, now in Buskerud.Vol. XIII: A History Of Norway And The Passion And Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr Anthony Faulkes and Richard Perkins (Viking Society for Northern Research), p. 128)Vestfold - gammelt navn , snl.no
Vestfold Hills on Antarctica's Sørsdal Glacier is named after the county.
History Viking history
Vestfold is mentioned for the first time in a written source in 813, when Danish kings were in Vestfold to quell an uprising amongst the Fürsts . There may have been as many as six political centers in Vestfold. At that time Kaupang, which was located in Tjølling near Larvik, had been functioning for decades and had a chieftain. Kaupang, which dates from the Viking Age, is believed to be the first town in Norway, although Tønsberg (which dates from ca. 900) is the oldest town in Norway still in existence. At Borre, there was a site for another chieftain. That site held chieftains for more than one hundred years prior to 813.
The stone mounds at Mølen have been dated to the Viking Age. The mounds at Haugar in present-day Tønsberg's town centre have been dated to the Viking period. At Farmannshaugen in Sem there seems to have been activity at the time, while activity at Oseberghaugen and Gokstadhaugen dates from a few decades later.
An English source from around 890 retells the voyage of Ottar (Ottar fra Hålogaland) "from the farthest North, along Norvegr via Kaupang and Hedeby to England", where Ottar places Kaupang in the land of the Dane - danenes land. Bjørn Brandlien says that "To the degree that Harald Hårfagre gathered a kingdom after the Battle of Hafrsfjord at the end of the 9th century - that especially is connected to Avaldsnes - it does not seem to have made such a great impression on Ottar". Kaupang is mentioned under the name of Skiringssal (Kaupangen i Skiringssal) in Ottar's tales.
By the 10th century, the local kings had established themselves. The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheim i Sem, today the Jarlsberg Estate (Jarlsberg Hovedgård) in Tønsberg. The farm Haugar (from Old Norse haugr meaning hill or mound) became the seat for Haugating, the Thing for Vestfold and one of Norway's most important place for the proclamation of kings.
The family of Harald Fairhair, who was most likely the first king of Norway, is said to have come from this area.
The Danish kings seem to have been weak in Vestfold from around the middle of the 9th century until the middle of the 10th century, but their rule was strengthened there at the end of the 10th century. The Danish kings seem to have tried to control the region until the 13th century.
Kings ruling some or all of Vestfold
Erik Agnarsson Halfdan Hvitbeinn (part of Vestfold) Eystein Halfdansson Halfdan the Mild Gudrød the Hunter Halfdan the Black, together with his brother, Olaf Gudrødsson Ragnvald Heidumhære, Cousin of Harold Fairhair Harald Fairhair Bjørn Farmann Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, brother of Bjørn Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987
Whaling
Whaling was an important 19th century industry in coastal cities such as Larvik, Tønsberg, and Sandefjord, which was the world centre for the world's modern whaling industry. Not only did men from Vestfold County make up practically all the crew on the Norwegian whaling fleet, but many were also involved in the whaling industry in other nations.Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 25. . As an example, the first phase of modern Australian whaling was almost entirely based on workers from Larvik.Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 222. . While the first whaling station in the Faroe Islands was established by Sandefjordians,Joensen, Jóan Pauli (2009). Pilot Whaling in the Faroe Islands: History, Ethnography, Symbol. Faroe University Press. Page 225. . Larvik played a similar role for the Shetland Islands. Tønsberg initiated much of the whaling industry in Iceland and the Hebrides.Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 84. .
The largest settlement in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Grytviken, was established by Carl Anton Larsen of Sandefjord on 16 November 1904.Headland, Robert (1992). The Island of South Georgia. CUP Archive. Page 130. . Sandefjordian Nils Larsen's expeditions to Antarctica in the early 20th century led to the Norwegian annexation of Bouvet Island (1927) and Peter I Island (1929). A cove on Peter I Island is named Sandefjord Cove in honor of Nils Larsen's hometown.
Sandefjord Harbor is now home to Southern Actor, the only whale-catcher from the Modern Whaling Epoch still to be in its original order. The museum ship is owned by Sandefjord Whaling Museum, Europe's only museum dedicated to whaling.Philpott, Don (1991). Visitor's Guide: Norway. Moorland. Page 76. . Sandefjord has been named the centre of the Modern Whaling Epoch,Holskjær, Lars (2017). Kamper uten tall. Forlagshuset i Vestfold. Page 8. . and has been nicknamed "the whaling capital of the world."Engel, Lyle Kenyon (1963). Scandinavia: A Simon & Schuster Travel Guide. Cornerstone Library. Page 145.Ryder, Simon and Cameron Duffy (2018). Insight Guides Norway. Insight Guides. Page 163. .Alspaugh, Emmanuelle (2006). Fodor's Norway. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 73. .Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1985). Sandefjord: A modern city with vast potential. Grafisk Studio. Page 81. .
Geography
Vestfold is Norway's smallest county, with the exception of the city-county of Oslo. It lies on the western shore of the Oslofjord. Vestfold borders with Buskerud County in the north and with Telemark County in the west. It is bordered by Skagerrak in the North Sea to both the south and east. The county has a total area of and has a coastline. Vestfjellet at is the tallest peak in the county. It is also home to 1,407 islands. Nøtterøy () is the largest island in Vestfold, while Tjøme () is the second-largest island.Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1998). Bli kjent med Vestfold / Become acquainted with Vestfold. Stavanger Offset AS. Page 191. .
There is a total of 634 freshwater lakes in Vestfold, with a total area of 79 square kilometers. Large lakes include Farris, Eikeren, Goksjø, Hallevannet, Akersvannet, and others. Vestfold makes up 0.7 percent of Norway's total land area. Ten Norwegian municipalities are larger in size than Vestfold County. As an example, Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark County is over four times larger than Vestfold County. Finnmark county is 22 times larger than Vestfold county.
Geology
The county's soft soil is composed of varieties of moraine and sedimentary soils. The Ice Age left large parts of Vestfold below sea level, and the most cultivated soil can be found on the marine terraces. Marine clay and sand cover most of the lower lying country in the south-west and north. The Vestfold moraine, a continuation of the Østfold moraine at Moss, is an ice-formed formation which stretches as a cohesive gravel ridge through the county, from Horten in the east to Mølen in the south.
Preserved areas Færder National Park was the county's first national park when the decision was formalized by King Harald V on 23 August 2013. The visitor center is at World's End, and was officially opened by Queen Sonja on 26 June 2015. The national park lies in Nøtterøy- and Tjøme municipalities, and is made up of of ocean and of land. It stretches from Ormøy in the north to Færder Lighthouse in the south. It is one of two marine national parks in Norway, and is made up of coast, skerries, islands and sea bed.
Mølen in Larvik is home to Norway's largest stone beach and is an ancient burial site consisting of 230 cairns, some exceeding in diameter. Excavations have dated the rock piles to about 250 A.D. It was the first UNESCO Global Geopark in the Nordics when established in 2008. Mølen is one of Larvik's most popular tourist attractions. It is home to over a hundred species of rock, including Norway's national stone, Larvikite, which is named from the area. It is a crucially important seabird habitat, where over 316 species of bird have been recorded.
Municipalities Vestfold has experienced a large reduction in number of municipalities. As of 1949, the county was home to 19 rural municipalities and 7 city municipalities. There were 14 municipalities as of 2016, but the number decreased to 6 as of 2024. Vestfold has the least amount of municipalities of any county in Norway.
Holmestrand Municipality Horten Municipality Tønsberg Municipality Færder Municipality Sandefjord Municipality Larvik Municipality
Towns and cities
Holmestrand Horten Larvik Sandefjord Stavern Tønsberg Åsgårdstrand
Villages
Andebu Barkåker Berger Bergsåsen Bjerkøya Bjørnevåg Borgheim Borre Brekkeåsen Buerstad Duken Eidsfoss Eik Eikeberg Fevang Fokserød Fon Freberg Føynland Gjone Glomstein Gretteåsen Grimestad Gullhaug Hafallen Helgeroa Hem Hof Hulebakk Husvik Husøy Hvasser Høyjord Hårkollen Kaupang Kjose Kjøpmannskjær Klever Kodal Kvelde Lahelle Linnestad Melsomvik Nesbrygga Nesbygda Nevlunghavn Nykirke Ormelet Oterbekk Ramnes