KRISTIANSAND

(earlier Christianssand) is a city and municipality, and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.
The city of Kristiansand was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Oddernes, Randesund and Tveit were merged with Kristiansand January 1, 1965.
Kristiansand was founded by King Christian IV in 1641. It was created as a market town to encourage growth in this area of strategic significance, providing a local economic base for construction of fortifications and population for defense of the area. The centre of Kristiansand is called 'Kvadraturen' due to its square gridline of streets.
The zoological garden, Kristiansand Dyrepark (Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park) just east of the city, has a wide selection of animals in, for the most part, natural habitats. This includes animals such as wolves, tigers and the lynx. Due to the allocation of areas the combination of zoo and recreational park turns out surprisingly well.
Each year in July, Kristiansand is the site of the Quart Festival, a multi-day music festival - the largest of its kind in Norway.^[1]
Kristiansand is also home to Agder Theatre.
Kristiansand is connected to continental Europe by air and sea. The local airport, Kjevik, is located 12 km (7 miles) east of the city and has routes to European and Norwegian cities. From the town centre, the ferry harbour has routes to Hirtshals (Denmark) and Hanstholm (Denmark). There are also buses and trains that connect Kristiansand to other Norwegian cities.
Kristiansand has major shipbuilding and repair facilities that support Norway's North Sea oil industry. Near Kristiansand there is the static inverter plant of the HVDC Cross-Skagerak.

Kristiansand and Sørlandet usually have a lot of summer sunshine compared to most of Norway. There may be heavy snowfall in winter with south-southeasterly winds (snow record at Kjevik is 170 cm), but the snow rarely stays long at the coast; see climate.
''Note'': Even though the names are different, Kristiansand is often noted as 'Kristiansand S' (S for South) to distinguish it from Kristiansund, also in Norway, in such cases noted as 'Kristiansund N'. The practice originated before postal codes were introduced, as mail sometimes was sent to the wrong city. Occasional mix-ups with the Swedish city of Kristianstad have also been known to happen.^[2]

Contents

Famous people from Kristiansand

External links

References

Famous people from Kristiansand

★ Bernt Balchen (1899 – 1973), Norwegian-American aviator born in Tveit

★ Jens Bjørneboe (1920 – 1976), painter, dramatist, essayist and novelist born in Kristiansand.

★ Valdemar Knudsen (1819 – 1898), pioneered sugar cane production in Hawaii.

★ Mette-Marit (1973 –), Norwegian Crown Princess, born and raised in Kristiansand.

★ Lars Nedland (1976 –), vocalist, percussionist and keyboardist in a variety of Norwegian black metal and avant-garde bands

★ Andreas Thorkildsen (1982 –), olympic gold medalist, javelin.

★ Henrik Wergeland (1808 – 1832), poet

★ Holger Hott Johansen (1974 – ), world champion in Orienteering

External links

★ About Kristiansand

References

1. Official Quart Festival site (English)
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/765629.stm