Himberg is an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

Sandefjord municipality Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, which is surrounded by

Larvik municipality Larvik () is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 46,364 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110 ...

. Numerous efforts with the goal of merging Himberg into surrounding Larvik have failed. The Schei Committee in 1960 tried to exchange Vannøya Island, an island near Sandefjord which belonged to Larvik (

Tjølling Tjølling is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. Tjølling was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Together with Brunlanes, Stavern and Hedrum, it was merged into Larvik on January 1, 1988. Tjøl ...

) until 1988. However, the attempt proved unsuccessful due to local opposition. A new

annexation 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 ...

attempt took place in 1995, but was ultimately canceled due to opposition from “patriotic” Sandefjord residents in Himberg. Himberg is a rural agricultural community which consists of about ten households. It has a population of about 40 as of 2014, and has a total area of 1.4 km² (0.54 sq. mi.). There are only four similar type exclaves in

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 ...

, and Himberg is the most populous of Norway's exclaves.

References

{{coord, 59.104, 10.133, type:city_region:NO, display=title Enclaves and exclaves Sandefjord Larvik Populated places in Vestfold og Telemark