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Birkenes
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| Birkenes kommune | |||
| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Aust-Agder | ||
| District | Sørlandet | ||
| Municipality ID | NO-0928 | ||
| Administrative centre | Birkeland | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor (2004) | Harald Vestøl (H) | ||
| Area (Nr. 164 in Norway) | |||
| - Total | 674 km² (260.2 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 630 km² (243.2 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| - Total | 4,339 | ||
| - Density | 7/km² (18.1/sq mi) | ||
| - Change (10 years) | 7.0 % | ||
| - Rank in Norway | 220 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Demonym | Birkenesing Borkis [1] |
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| Website: www.birkenes.kommune.no | |||
Birkenes is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. Birkeland is the administrative center and about half of the municipality's residents live there. Birkeland is 30-kilometers from Kristiansand and 13-kilometers from Lillesand.
The parish of Tveit had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikt on 1 January 1838 because the main part of Tveit belonged to the county of Vest-Agder and the annex of Birkenæs belonged to the county of Aust-Agder. The former municipalities of Herefoss and Vegusdal were merged with Birkenes on 1 January 1967.
The municipality borders Kristiansand and Vennesla municipalities in Vest-Agder and Iveland, Evje og Hornnes, Froland, Grimstad, and Lillesand municipalities in Aust-Adger.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Birkenes farm (Old Norse Birkines), since the first church was built there. The first element is birki which means "birch wood" and the last element is nes which means "headland".
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 5 December 1986. The arms are a canting of bjørk or birch. The green color symbolizes agriculture in the municipality. The three leaves symbolize the three villages in the municipality: Birkenes, Herefoss, and Vegusdal.[2]
[edit] Economy
Agriculture and timbering are important sources of employment, but the municipality also has small industry with about 400 different work sites. The largest enterprise is Owens Corning with approximately 180 employees. Other larger businesses include Uldal Vinduer og Dører, Foss Bad, Scanflex, KOAB Industrier, and Birkeland Trykkeri.
The Sørlandsbanen provides rail service at Herefoss station.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg". Språkrådet. (Norwegian)
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved on 3 October 2008.
[edit] External links
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