is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Drammen Municipality in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The town is located along the west shore of the

Drammensfjorden Drammensfjord () is a fjord in along the border of Akershus and Buskerud counties in Norway that connects to Ytre Oslofjord on the west side. It stretches about to the north and northeast. The Drammenselva river discharges into the head of the ...

, about to the southeast of the town of Drammen and about north of the village of

Berger Berger is a surname in both German language, German and French language, French, although there is no etymological connection between the names in the two languages. The French surname is an occupational name for a shepherd, from Old French ''bergi ...

. The village of Klokkarstua (in Asker Municipality) lies about to the east, across the fjord. The town has a population (2023) of 4,256 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . The town lies mostly in Drammen Municipality, but a small part of the urban area of Svelvik lies on the other side of the fjord (which is only wide at that point). About 130 people live right across the fjord in Asker Municipality. The newspaper ''

Svelviksposten ''Svelviksposten'' (The Svelvik Gazette) is a local Norway, Norwegian newspaper published once a week in the town of Svelvik in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county. Circulation According to the Norwegian Audit Bureau of Circulations and National ...

'' has been published in Svelvik since 1983.

History

The town of Svelvik was established as a ladested on 1 January 1845 when it was separated from Strømm Municipality. Initially, the new town had a population of 1,201. The town was historically located in Jarlsberg og Laurvig county (present-day

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

county). Under the

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law, Svelvik was granted self-governing status as a municipality since it was a town. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the town of Svelvik (population: 1,188) was merged with Strømm Municipality (population: 2,618) to form the new

Svelvik Municipality is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1845 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Drammen Municipality in Buskerud county. The administrative centre was the town of Svelvik. The ot ...

. On 1 January 2020, Svelvik Municipality (population: 6,685) was merged into the neighboring Drammen Municipality (which made it switch from

to Viken county), so from then on, the town of Svelvik has been part of Drammen Municipality. On 1 January 2024, Viken county was dissolved and this area became part of

county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the old ''Svelvik'' farm () since the first

Svelvik Church is a town in Drammen Municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The town is located along the west shore of the Drammensfjorden, about to the southeast of the town of Drammen and about north of the village of Berger. The village of Klokkars ...

was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

". The last element is which means "

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

" or "

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

". The name "sword bay" is likely referring to the ''Ryggen'' promontory ridge across from the town of Svelvik. The ridge juts out into the

like a sword and divides the fjord into two halves. The neighboring farm is called ''Sverstad'' () which has the same etymology.

Geography

MF Svelviksund in Svelvik TRS 070414 014

The town is located on the western shore of the

. The narrow Svelvikstrømmen

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

is located part-way along the fjord, near the town of Svelvik. The shortest

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

line in Norway crosses the fjord there, connecting Svelvik to the Hurum peninsula. The little town has small, winding streets and traditional, white-painted houses. Svelvik has many venues for swimming and sunbathing.

Notable residents

Media gallery

Svelvik_kirke_TRS.jpg,

is the church in Svelvik, built in 1859 with seating for 450. Vilt og vakkert ved fjorden.jpg, View from the fjord (Jan 2009) 2009 Oktober Strømmen 002.jpg, Oktober evening by the Svelvikstrømmen Svelvik 20080718.jpg, View of the town from the fjord Jarlsberg og Larviks amt nr 37- Kart over Svelvik, 1870.jpg, Map of the town from 1870

References

External links

Local news from Svelviksposten
* * {{Authority control Drammen Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Buskerud 1845 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1845