Ringerike is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

of Hønefoss. The municipality of Ringerike was created on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the town of Hønefoss and the rural municipalities of Hole, Norderhov,

Tyristrand Tyristrand is a village in Ringerike municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. Background Tyristrand parish was designated a municipality following a split from Hole on 1 July 1916. The municipality of Hole made been established on 1 January 1 ...

, and Ådal. However, the area of Hole was removed from the municipality of Ringerike on 1 January 1977 to become a separate municipality once again. The historic area of Ringerike included not just the modern municipality of Ringerike but also Hole and Krødsherad,

Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long ...

and Sigdal.

General information

Etymology

The Old Norse form of this name was ''Hringaríki''. The first element is (probably) the

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can a ...

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

of ''hringir'', the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is ''ríki'' n 'kingdom, reich'. (See also Romerike.)

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

were granted on 16 June 1967. The arms show a gold ring on a red background. The colours red and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

represent royalty and are the royal colors of Norway. The ring is a canting symbol and at the same time symbolises the unity of the area, which has been a separate entity (even considered a

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into ...

) since medieval times. Honefoss flyfoto3

Geography

The municipality of Ringerike is bordered on the north by the municipalities of

Sør-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn. Other villages in the municipality include Begna, Hedalen, a ...

and

Søndre Land Søndre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hov. Other villages in the municipality include Fluberg and Odnes. T ...

; on the east by

Gran Gran may refer to: People * Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" *Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet cou ...

, Jevnaker, Lunner, and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

; in the south by

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, Hole, and

; and in the west by Krødsherad and Flå. Lakes in the region include: * Samsjøen * Øyangen * Sperillen * Ullerentjernet * Vestre Bjonevatnet It is also home to mountain ranges, including Ådalsfjella. Ringerikspoteter

Climate

Ringerike has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

( Dfb) with relatively warm summers and cold winters, often with snow on the ground lasting for weeks. The all-time high was recorded July 2018. The all-time low was recorded January 2010.

Economy

Billions of Norwegian kroner has been invested (as of 2022) in infrastructure, as a result of a government order (''oppdragsbrev'') in 2015; the municipality had to do their part in regard to the project " Ringerike Line"; the national budget is not final yet (as of October 2022) and government money for the project has not yet been allocated. Ringerike is famous for two

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

products; Ringerike

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

(''Ringerikspotet'') and Ringerike

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

(''Ringeriksert''). Jens Aabel first started production of Ringerike potato around 1867. The Ringerike pea has obtained PDO (

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

). In June 2007, the Ringerike potato got "protected geographical indication" (PGI) under the name ''Ringerikspotet fra Ringerike.'' Six farmers are now producing and packing this special potato at Ask in Ringerike. Most of the potatoes are sold in the Oslo area. The town was also home to the commercial operations of the Norwegian Mapping Authority which in 2004 divested these to the then Ugland IT Group, later renamed Nordeca. The offices were closed in 2010 with all operations moving to Lysaker due to increasing computerization of map-making.

Notable residents

Covers people in the wider Municipality, * Helge Ellingsen Waagaard (1781 in Norderhov – 1817) a farmer and non-commissioned military officer, a rep. at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly * Michael Færden (1836 in Norderhov – 1912) a Norwegian priest and author * Andrea Gram (1853 in Ask – 1927) a Norwegian painter of landscapes and portraits * Rolf Bull-Hansen (1888 in Norderhov – 1970) a Norwegian educator and author * Elling M. Solheim (1905 in Norderhov – 1971) a poet, playwright and short story writer * Olav Brænden (1919 in Norderhov – 1989) a Norwegian pharmacist, drug expert and inventor * Olav Aspheim (1921 in Ringerike – 1948) a member of the WWII fascist party Nasjonal Samling * Eyvind Fjeld Halvorsen (1922 in Ringerike – 2013) a Norwegian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

Arild Hiim Arild Hiim (born 17 August 1945 in Ringerike) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Buskerud in 1989, and was re-elected on one occasion. He had previously served in the position of ...

(born 1945 in Ringerike) politician and former member of parliament *

Bjørn Kjos Bjørn Kjos (born 18 July 1946) is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, and business magnate. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, briefly Scandinavia's largest airline, and Europe's third largest low-cost airline. Early l ...

(born 1946 in Sokna) founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle. * Bjørn Skogmo, (Norwegian Wiki) (1948 in Jevnaker - 2020) writer * Kjell B. Hansen (1957–2020) a politician, Mayor of Ringerike 2007-2019 * Bård frydenlund (born 1972 in Ringerike) an author and historian, CEO at Eidsvoll 1814

Sport

* Randi Thorvaldsen (1925 in Øvre Eiker – 2011) speedskater * Erik Hagen (born 1975 in Veme) footballer with 360 club caps and 28 for

* Rune Hagen (born 1975 in Veme) a Norwegian former footballer with 280 club caps * Tor Øyvind Hovda (born 1989 in Ringerike) a Norwegian footballer with 250 club caps

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Ringerike: * Aabenraa, Region of Southern Denmark,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

* Lohja,

Southern Finland Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Emmeloord Emmeloord is the administrative centre of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, Netherlands. In 2019, it had a population of 26,055. Overview At the heart of the Noordoostpolder, where the three main drainage canals Lemstervaart ...

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* Skagaströnd,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

* Växjö,

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capit ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Vera Vera may refer to: Names * Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in 1989

Gallery

File:Ringerike rådhus 01.jpg, Ringerike Town Hall File:Ringerikes museum på Ringerike.JPG, Ringerikes Museum File:EiendomsMegler1 00.jpg, Tandberggården in Hønefoss File:Ringerike tingrett.jpg, Ringerike District Court File:Skøiengården 00.jpg, Skøiengården at Søndre Torv in Hønefoss File:Honefoss-stasjon-1tb.jpg, Hønefoss Railway Station