Vestfold og Telemark


Vestfold og Telemark, lit. Vestfold and Telemark in English, is the southernmost county in Eastern Norway that consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions, the former counties of Telemark and most of Vestfold. The county capital is Skien, which is also the county's largest city. While Skien is the capital of the county municipality, the seat of the County Governor is Tønsberg. It borders the counties of Viken, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder.
Telemark voted against the merger, on the basis that the regions have nothing in common and do not constitute a natural geographical, cultural, social or political entity; regardless the Storting voted on 7 January 2018 to merge the counties by force, and the merger took effect on 1 January 2020. Unlike Telemark or Vestfold, it does not form a traditional or cultural region, but is a purely administrative entity.

History

The region of Vestfold and Telemark consists of the two former counties of Telemark and Vestfold, whose administrative histories are separate.
Telemark County was established in 1919 as a continuation of the former Bratsberg amt, which had been a len and amt since the union with Denmark. Bratsberg amt and the later Telemark county consist of several partly overlapping historic districts. The name Telemark itself did not originally cover the coasts, and the minority at the Storting therefore proposed the name Grenland-Telemark when the modern county was established.
Vestfold County was established in 1919 as a continuation of the former Jarlsberg and Larviks amt. The latter was established in 1821 when the counties of Laurvig and Jarlsberg were dissolved and merged into a common county.

The merging process

A possible merger of the counties has been discussed for several years with different constellations. Telemark County Council voted in April 2017 against a merge with Vestfold. Vestfold County Council voted for a merge with both Telemark and Buskerud. The Storting decided a merger of Telemark and Vestfold on 8 June 2017 with effect from 1 January 2020.
The Language Council of Norway recommended the name Telemark and Vestfold as the name of the new region. Telemark County Council decided that the name Telemark under any circumstances had to be included in the new name, while Vestfold suggested the name of Vest-Viken, which was criticized because the name was originally created by the Nazi Quisling regime during World War 2 and because Telemark County is mostly located outside the historical Viken area; at best the small coastal area of the county may be included in the periphery of Viken. Media in Norway, such as the state broadcaster NRK, mocked the proposal Vest-Viken as a "Nazi name." On 10 November 2017 Vestfold withdrew the proposal of Vest-Viken and it became apparent that both counties supported the Language Council's proposal on Telemark and Vestfold. Eventually the local politicians agreed on Vestfold og Telemark as a compromise, although Telemark politicians stated that Telemark should be the first part of the name, both for alphabetical reasons and because of the Telemark name's iconic status in Norway and internationally, a status that the Vestfold name lacks. As of 2018 Telemark og Vestfold is already the name of the relevant branches of several government agencies and both name forms are widely used.
As Vestfold was forcibly merged with Telemark, Svelvik municipality decided to vote for a merger with Drammen municipality, which would lead Svelvik to leave Vestfold county and join Viken county on 1 January 2020. The vote turned in favor for joining Drammen and Viken.

Municipalities

Vestfold og Telemark

Vestfold og Telemark County has a total of 23 municipalities:
No.Municipality No.NameCreatedFormer Municipality No.Former County
13801HortenJanuary 1, 20200701 HortenVestfold
23802HolmestrandJanuary 1, 20200715 HolmestrandVestfold
33803TønsbergJanuary 1, 20200704 Tønsberg
0716 Re		Vestfold
43804SandefjordJanuary 1, 20200710 SandefjordVestfold
53805LarvikJanuary 1, 20200712 LarvikVestfold
63806PorsgrunnJanuary 1, 20200805 PorsgrunnTelemark
73807SkienJanuary 1, 20200806 SkienTelemark
83808NotoddenJanuary 1, 20200807 NotoddenTelemark
93811FærderJanuary 1, 20200729 FærderVestfold
103812SiljanJanuary 1, 20200811 SiljanTelemark
113813BambleJanuary 1, 20200814 BambleTelemark
123814KragerøJanuary 1, 20200815 KragerøTelemark
133815DrangedalJanuary 1, 20200817 DrangedalTelemark
143816NomeJanuary 1, 20200819 NomeTelemark
153817Midt-TelemarkJanuary 1, 20200821 Bø
0822 Sauherad		Telemark
163818TinnJanuary 1, 20200826 TinnTelemark
173819HjartdalJanuary 1, 20200827 HjartdalTelemark
183820SeljordJanuary 1, 20200828 SeljordTelemark
193821KviteseidJanuary 1, 20200829 KviteseidTelemark
203822NissedalJanuary 1, 20200830 NissedalTelemark
213823FyresdalJanuary 1, 20200831 FyresdalTelemark
223824TokkeJanuary 1, 20200833 TokkeTelemark
233825VinjeJanuary 1, 20200834 VinjeTelemark

Urban areas

The largest urban areas of Vestfold og Telemark, sorted after population :
Brevik, Holmestrand, Horten, Kragerø, Langesund, Larvik, Notodden, Porsgrunn, Rjukan, Sandefjord, Skien, Stathelle, Stavern, Tønsberg and Åsgårdstrand all have town status.