is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Gjøvik Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøv ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The town is the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

. It is located on the western shore of the large lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe. It is the fourth-deepest lake in Norway. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the rive ...

, about south of the town of Lillehammer and about west (across the lake) from the town of

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

. The town has a population (2021) of 20,339 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of . This makes it the third largest town in

county (after

and

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

). The town is located along the river

Hunnselva Hunnselva is a river in Innlandet and Viken counties in Norway. The long river is located mostly in Innlandet county, but the headwaters are actually just over the border in Viken county. The river generally flows north and it runs through the l ...

where the river flows into the lake

. The town is traditionally an industrial town with several large companies based there including O. Mustad & Son. In 1902, the Gjøvikbanen railway line was built, connecting the town to the national capital,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, which is about to the south.

Gjøvik Church Gjøvik Church ( no, Gjøvik kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gjøvik Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the town of Gjøvik. It is the church for the Gjøvik parish which is part of the Toten prosti ( ...

is located in the town. The

Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall ( no, Gjøvik Olympiske Fjellhall or ) is an ice hockey rink located within a mountain hall in Gjøvik, Norway. With a capacity for 5,500 spectators, the hall also features a 25-meter swimming pool and telecommunicati ...

is the world's largest sporting facility that is built into the side of a mountain. It was first built to be used as part of the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in nearby Lillehammer.

History

Historically, the village of Gjøvik was part of the parish and municipality of

Vardal Vardal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Gjøvik Municipality and Vestre Toten Municipality in the traditional district ...

. On 1 January 1861, the village was granted

kjøpstad A (historically: ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'') is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" that was used in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway for several hundred years. The name comes from the on, kaupstaðr. Kjøpstads were ...

(town) status. At that time, the village was separated from Vardal to form a separate municipality given its new status as a town. Initially, the new town of Gjøvik had 626 residents. On 1 July 1921, a part of

municipality located just outside the town of Gjøvik (population: 723) was

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

into the town. Again, on 1 January 1955, another part of

(population: 1,372) was transferred to the town. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring rural municipalities of Biri,

Snertingdal Snertingdal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1910 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gjøvik Municipality in the traditional district of Vestoppland. The administrativ ...

, and Vardal were all merged with the town to form the new, larger

Etymology

The town is named after the old ''Gjøvik'' farm ( non, Djúpvík). The first element is ''djúpr'' which means "deep" and the second element is ''vík'' which means "

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

References

{{use dmy dates, date=November 2022 Gjøvik Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Innlandet 1861 establishments in Norway

History

Etymology

See also

References