Aust-Agder (, ) was a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

(''fylke'') in

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 ...

from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Vest-Agder to form 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 at Risør to the Kvåsefjorden in Lillesand. The inner parts of the area included Setesdalsheiene and Austheiene. Most of the population lives near the coast; about 78% of the county's inhabitants live in the five coastal municipalities of Arendal,

Grimstad Grimstad () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the Grimstad (to ...

, Lillesand, Tvedestrand, and Risør. The rest of the county is sparsely populated. Tourism is important, as Arendal and the other coastal towns are popular attractions. The county includes the larger islands of Tromøya, Hisøya, Justøya, and Sandøya. The interior of the county encompasses 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 region, 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 Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

form of "east". Until 1919, the name of the county was ''Nedenes amt''. The amt was named after the old ''Nedenes'' farm ( Norse ''Niðarnes''), since this was the seat of the '' amtmann'' ( County Governor). The first element is the

genitive case 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 ca ...

of the river name ''Nið'' (now called

Nidelva Nidelva is a river in Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name of the long river translates to "the River Nid" since the suffix ''elva'' is the Norwegian language, Norwegian word for "the river". Location The Nidelva starts at the Hytt ...

) and the last element is ''nes'' which means " headland". The meaning of the river name is unknown.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1958. It shows two horizontal golden bars on a red background. They symbolize the

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

trade and the recovery of iron ore that was important for Aust-Agder's growth. There are two bars to represent the two areas of the county: inland and coastal.

Municipalities

The system of

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

, or ''kommuner'', was established in Norway in 1837, based on previously existing

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 ...

es (see

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 ...

). Norway had been ceded to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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. Since the 1990s, Aust-Agder has been divided into 15 municipalities: Aust-Agder-kommuner

Cities

* Arendal *

* Risør * Lillesand * Tvedestrand

Parishes

* Arendal * Austad * Austre Moland * Barbu * Birkenes * Bjorbekk * Bygland * Bykle * Old Bykle * Dypvåg * Eide * Engene * Evje * Færvik * Fevik * Fjære * Fjellgardane *

Flosta Flosta is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Aust-Agder Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1962. It is currently part of the municipality of Ar ...

* Froland * Frydendal * Gjerstad * Gjøvdal *

* 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 Håbbestad is a village in Grimstad municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located about halfway between the villages of Rykene and Fevik on the north shore of the lake ''Temse''. References

Villages in Agder Grimstad {{ ...

* 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 Søndeled is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Aust-Agder Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into the municipality o ...

* 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 * Barbu * Dypvåg * Eide * Evje * Evje og Vegusdal * Fjære *

* Gjøvdal * Herefoss * Hisøy * Holt * Hornnes * Hornnes og Iveland * Hylestad * Høvåg * Landvik * Moland * Mykland * Stokken *

* Tovdal * Tromøy * Vegusdal * Vestre Moland * Øyestad

Population

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the 19th century and early 20th century.

References

External links

Political mapAust-Agder fylkeskommune (in English)
* * {{Authority control Former counties of Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway States and territories disestablished in 2020