Røyken is a district and village (''bygd'') and a former

municipality 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 ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Har ...

in Viken County,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and t ...

. In 2020 Røyken was merged with the municipalities of Hurum and

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken count ...

to form the new Asker Municipality (informally called "Greater Asker") located in the newly formed 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 ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of ''Røken'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janua ...

). Oslo ATCC, the

Area Control Center In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between ai ...

for the

controlled airspace Controlled airspace is airspace of defined dimensions within which air traffic control (ATC) services are provided. The level of control varies with different classes of airspace. Controlled airspace usually imposes higher weather minimums tha ...

above

Østlandet Eastern Norway ( nb, Østlandet, nn, Austlandet) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Vestfold og Telemark, Viken, Oslo and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region ...

is located here.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Røyken'' farm (

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

''Raukvin''), since the first church was built there. The first element is ''raukr'' which means "pile, stack;

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

" and the last element is ''vin'' which means "

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artif ...

" or "

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...

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 i ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 15 December 1967. The figure shows a yellow

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

on a blue background. It was chosen as a semi-

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ' ...

symbol to represent

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrainment (engineering), entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commo ...

(which cannot be depicted in

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

). The background for the motif is a common misunderstanding of the name as ''røyken'' the definite form of ''røyk'' meaning "

Geography

Røyken is located south of Lier and

, on the northern part of the Hurum peninsula north of Hurum municipality. It lies between

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

and

Drammensfjord Drammensfjord ( en, Drammen Fjord) is a fjord in Norway that connects to Ytre Oslofjord on the west side. It stretches to the north and northeast. The Drammenselva river discharges into the head of the fjord. The municipality and city of Drammen ...

. It is connected to the eastern side of the Oslofjord via Hurum municipality and the

Oslofjord Tunnel The Oslofjord Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel which traverses the Oslofjord, connecting Hurum and Frogn in Norway. Carrying three lanes, the long tunnel reaches a depth of below mean sea level. The tunnel has a maximum gradient of seven ...

. The tunnel is long and connects Hurumhalvøya to Akershus county. The district includes large amounts of residential zones with beautiful sights of the sea. The administration is situated in the village of Midtbygda. The main population centers are the villages of Hyggen, Hallenskog, Midtbygda, Nærsnes, Røyken,

Slemmestad Slemmestad is a village in Røyken in Asker municipality in Viken, Norway. Slemmestad is located on the west bank of the Oslofjord, west of Oslo. History Historically Slemmestad was located on the old highway running between Oslo and Drammen. ...

Spikkestad Spikkestad is a village in the municipality of Asker, in the province of Viken, Norway. Its current population (2022) is between 4000 and 5000. Spikkestad is located in the northern part of the peninsula of Hurumlandet, closer to the Drammensf ...

, and Åros. Many people live in the northern part of Bødalen and its vicinities, which is a continuous residential area that continues throughout Asker and

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 electora ...

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 ...

Municipality Reform

As part of the municipality reform process instigated by Minister of Local Government Jan Tore Sanner the municipalities of Asker, Hurum and Røyken evaluated if they should merge into a new common municipality during the first half of 2016. A tentative agreement was reached and on 16 June 2016 the Municipal Council of Røyken approved the merger with

and Hurum with 24 votes for and 3 against. The merger date was 1 January 2020 and the chosen name was Asker.

Notable people

Einar Jansen Einar Jansen (27 March 1893 – 13 December 1960) was a Norwegian historian, genealogist and archivist. He was born in Røyken as the son of priest Jens Jonas Jansen (1844–1912) and Jenny Therese Schroeter (1863–1942). He was a nephew of J ...

(1893 in Røyken – 1960) a Norwegian historian, genealogist and archivist *

Jonas Fjeldstad Jonas Ekman Fjeldstad (November 22, 1894 – February 20, 1985) was a prize-winning Norwegian oceanographer and mathematician. Fjeldstad was born in Røyken. He received his ''candidatus realium'' degree at the Royal Frederick University and be ...

(1894 in Røyken – 1985) a prize-winning

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

and mathematician * Ove Bang (1895 in Røyken – 1942) a Norwegian architect, advocated functionalism in architecture * Eberhart Jensen (1922 in Røyken – 2003) a Norwegian astrophysicist *

Bjørge Lillelien Bjørge Lillelien (29 March 1927 – 26 October 1987) was a Norwegian sports journalist and commentator for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He was considered to be a popular and engaging personality who commentated on many sports, part ...

(1927 in Slemmestad – 1987) a sports journalist and commentator for NRK * Kate Gulbrandsen (born 1965 in Slemmestad) one of Norway's former Eurovision singers *

Melissa Wiik Lindy Melissa Løvbræk Wiik (born 7 February 1985 in Slemmestad) is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Urædd FK and the Norway national team. Career Asker played in the elite Toppserien league in Norway, and Wiik was the league's top sc ...

(born 1985 in Slemmestad) a footballer with 200 club caps and 63 for Norway women

Gallery

File:Røyken videregående steinerskole - 2011-08-10 - J. P. Fagerback.jpg , Røyken Steiner High School File:Odden.JPG, Odden Marina File:Røyken stasjon TRS 070106 017.jpg, Røyken Rail Station File:Royken rdhs1.jpg, Røyken City Hall File:Røyken kirke TRS 060620 003.jpg, Røyken Church File:Røyken-Geitungsholmen-jpfagerback-87316.jpg, Geitungsholmen nature reserve File:Røyken-Kutangen-naturminne-jpfagerback-87315.jpg, Kutangen protected nature area, Slemmestad

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every ye ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royken Municipalities of Buskerud Villages in Buskerud