Place:Østfold, Norway

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NameØstfold
Alt namesOstfoldsource: Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer (1961)
Smaalenenes amtsource: Family History Library Catalog
Smaalenessource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988) p 903
TypeCounty
Coordinates59.333°N 11.5°E
Located inNorway
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side of Oslofjord. The county's administrative seat was Sarpsborg. The county controversially became part of the newly established Viken County on 1 January 2020.

Many manufacturing facilities are situated here, such as the world's most advanced biorefinery, Borregaard in Sarpsborg. Fredrikstad has shipyards. There are granite mines in Østfold and stone from these were used by Gustav Vigeland.

The county slogan is "The heartland of Scandinavia". The local dialects are characterized by their geographical proximity to Sweden.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Østfold is among the nation's oldest inhabited regions, with petroglyphs (rock drawings) and burial mounds throughout the area.

In the Viking Age, the area was part of Vingulmark, which in turn was part of Viken and included Båhuslen (which is now the Swedish province called Bohuslän). It was partly under Danish rule until the time of Harald Fairhair.

Later, when Norway was under Danish rule, the Danish king divided the area into many baronies. The barony of Heggen og Frøland, consisting of the municipalities Askim, Eidsberg and Trøgstad, originally belonged to Akershus - but it was transferred to Østfold in 1768.

In October 2018, Norwegian archaeologists headed by the archaeologist Lars Gustavsen announced the discovery of a buried long Gjellestad Viking ship. An ancient well-preserved Viking cemetery for more than 1000 years was discovered using ground-penetrating radar. Archaeologists also revealed at least seven other previously unknown burial mounds and the remnants of five longhouses with the help of the radar survey.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Østfold. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.