Skien
Encyclopedia : S : SK : SKI : Skien
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| County | Telemark | |
| District | Grenland | |
| Municipality | [[ISO 3166-2:NO>NO-0806]] | |
| Administrative centre | Skien | |
| Mayor (2005) | Rolf Erling Andersen (Ap) | |
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage | 779 Square kilometre>km² 719 km² 0.24 % | |
| Population - Total (as of 2004>2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density | Ranked 12 85,100 1.10 % 4.6 % 70/km² | |
| Coordinates | ||
| [www.skien.kommune.no] [Data from Statistics Norway] | ||
The conurbation of Skien is the seventh largest city in Norway and straddles an area of three municipalities: Skien municipality (about 52% of the population), Porsgrunn (35%) and Bamble (11.5%). The urban area in turn is part of a larger cluster of cities and towns called Grenland, which is home to more than 100,000 people.
Skien was probably founded as a meeting place for inland farmers and sailing traders, and also as a shipping harbour for whetstones from Eidsborg (inland Telemark). Settlement can be traced back to the 11th century, and the Gimsøy Convent was founded in the 12th century. Skien was given formal commercial town rights by the Danish crown in 1358. Timber has historically been the most dominant export product from Skien.
There have been several name and spelling changes for Skien. The city's first known name is Skida, and in 1359 it changed to Skyde. In 1468 it once again changed, this time to Skydebye, and to Scheen in 1662. But the name is now Skien (pronounced locally as "SHEH-en", and by outsiders often as "SHI-en").
In Europe canals were commonly built in the pre-railroad period to transport goods, timber and passengers. Skien is one terminus for the Telemark canal (in Norwegian, Telemarkskanalen), which consists of two canals:
- The “Norsjø-Skienskanalen”, with one terminus at Skien and the other at Løveid, was built in 1854–1861, and is the oldest of the two canals.
- The “Bandak-Nordsjøkanalene” continued the canal beyond Løveid – it was opened in 1892.
Skien is currently the administrive centre of Telemark County.
The largest industries are
- ABB (electromechanical)
- Norske Skog Union (paper mill) (2006)
- Sykehuset Telemark (hospital)
- Fylkesmannen (The local Norwegian State Administration)
- Oldest building: Gjerpen church (built approximately 1150)
- Highest mountain: Skårrafjellet (814 m ASL)
Not far away from Venstøp one can also find Fossum Hovedgård. This light red/pink Empire Style, castle-like building dates back to 1818 and was built for Severin Løvenskiold, the head of the once so powerful Løvenskiold family. The beauty of this castle startles tourists and locals alike.
| Municipalities of Telemark |
|
|---|---|
| Bamble | Bø | Drangedal | Fyresdal | Hjartdal | Kragerø | Kviteseid | Nissedal | Nome | Notodden | Porsgrunn | Sauherad | Seljord | Siljan | Skien | Tinn | Tokke | Vinje | |
| 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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