Sandefjord
Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAN : Sandefjord
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| County | Vestfold | |
| District | ||
| Municipality | ||
| Administrative centre | Sandefjord | |
| Mayor (2004) | Bjørn Ole Gleditsch (H) | |
| Official language form | Bokmål | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage | 121 Square kilometre>km² 119 km² 0.04 % | |
| Population - Total (as of 2004>2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density | Ranked 16 40,992 0.90 % 11.5 % 345/km² | |
| Coordinates | ||
| [www.sandefjord.kommune.no] [Data from Statistics Norway] | ||
Physical environment
The two peninsulas called Østerøya and Vesterøya contribute to a total coastline of 146 km, and form the Sandefjordsfjord and Mefjord. The coastline offers a wide variety of sandy beaches, skerries and islets (116 in total), bays and sloping rocks.
During summer, Norwegians from all parts of the country come to Sandefjord to live the good life by the sea.
Of Sandefjord's total area, 37.7 km² is agricultural and 36.2 km² is forest.
Neighbouring towns are Tønsberg and Larvik.
History
One of the most important remains from the Viking age was found at the grave site Gokstadhaugen in Sandefjord. The Gokstad ship was found in 1880, and is now in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. A replica of Gokstad ship, called Gaia currently has Sandefjord as home port.The previous municipality of Sandar was joined with Sandefjord in 1968.
Health resort
Sandefjord was formerly a famous health resort, with various kinds of baths for health improvement. Amongst these were salt water sea baths, mud and sulfur baths. Visitors included royalty, a prime minister and some of Norway’s foremost cultural personalities. Around 50,000 people, mostly Norwegians, visited the bath from 1837 to 1939. Today the bath's building has been restored and now hosts cultural events and various activities.Whaling and ships
- Main articles: Framnæs shipyard and Jotun (company)
Today, the memories from this important period of the city's history are kept alive through the whaling museum (Hvalfangstmuseet). This museum is the only museum in Europe specializing in whales and the history of whaling. The history of the whalers can also be explored at the Museum's Wharf with a visit aboard the whale-catcher Southern Actor.
Sandefjord also has shipping traditions from tall sail ships and steam ships. The full rigged sail ship Christian Radich, three-masted barquentine Endurance, whale catcher Jason and viking ship Viking were a few of the many ships built in the local Framnæs shipyard.
Historical population
- 1845: 749 inhabitants
- 1951: 6,717
- 1960: 6,984
- 1970: 31,752 (Sandefjord and Sandar merged)
- 1980: 34,758
- 1990: 35,888
- 2000: 39,317
Cityscape
Sandefjord has a good selection of restaurants and cafés. What is possibly Norway’s best gourmet restaurant is located here in a modern building near the harbour. Also located at the harbour, is the fishmonger well known for the excellent quality of its goods and delicacies. Sandefjord has a charming city centre, consisting of a mixture of old and modern buildings and a wide selection of shops.
The whaling monument is located at the end of the city’s main street, Jernbanealléen, in the harbour area.
Nearby is a restaurant called Kokeriet, one of the relatively few places where whale meat is regularly served.
Industry
Businesses in Sandefjord known by most Norwegians:
- Jotun
- Grans Bryggeri
- Hval Sjokoladefabrikk
- Online shops such as Komplett
Communications
Sandefjord Airport is located in the municipality. The ferries Bohus and Viking connect the town to Strömstad in Sweden. Sandefjord railway station is part of Vestfoldbanen. European route E18 traverses the municipality.Sports
The local football club (Sandefjord Fotball) plays in the Norwegian Premier League. Sandefjord handball won the men's elite series in 2005-06. Marius Bakken is successful as a middle distance runner.Local sport clubs
Notable natives
- Anders Jahre (ships and whaling)
- Anita Hegerland (singer)
- Bent Hamer (film director)
- Christen Christensen (ships and whaling)
- Dag Solstad (writer)
- Espen Sandberg
- Frank Løke
- Joachim Rønning
- Karin Fossum (writer)
- Lars Christensen (ships and whaling)
- Odd Gleditsch sr. (founder of Jotun)
- Ole Aanderud Larsen (ship designer)
- Ole Christian Bach (questionable investor)
See also
- List of schools in Sandefjord
- Rock carvings at Haugen gård
- Rock carvings at Virik school
- Sandefjords Blad (local newspaper)
- Skiringssal
- Larvik and Sandefjord metropolitan region
External links
- [Visit Sandefjord]
- [Cruise Sandefjord]
- [Whaling Museum]
- [Gaia, the viking ship copy]
- [Kokeriet - restaurant serving e.g. whale meat]
- [Sandefjord Public Library]
| Municipalities of Vestfold |
|
|---|---|
| Andebu | Hof | Holmestrand | Horten | Lardal | Larvik | Nøtterøy | Re | Sande | Sandefjord | Stokke | Svelvik | Tjøme | Tønsberg | |
| 25 biggest cities of Norway (with number of inhabitants according to Statistics Norway [link]) |
|---|
| Oslo (811,700) | Bergen (213,600) | Stavanger (173,100) | Trondheim (147,100) | Fredrikstad (97,100) | Drammen (90,700) | Skien (85,100) | Kristiansand (70,700) | Tromsø (52,400) | Tønsberg (45,000) | Ålesund (44,100) | Haugesund (40,300) | Sandefjord (39,600) | Moss (34,500) | Bodø (34,100) | Arendal (30,900) | Hamar (28,800) | Larvik (23,100) | Halden (22,000) | Harstad (19,400) | Lillehammer (19,100) | Molde (18,600) | Mo i Rana (17,900) | Kongsberg (17,700) | Horten (17,700) |
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