Veierland is a populated, carfree island in

Færder Færder is a municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borgheim. The municipality was established in 2018 by the unification of the former municipalities of T ...

municipality,

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 ...

. A ferry service operated by Jutøya AS connects the island with the nearby, larger island of

Nøtterøy Nøtterøy is an island and a former municipality in the present-day municipality of Færder in Vestfold and Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Borgheim. The parish of ''Nøtterø'' was estab ...

. The island also has a permanent ferry link to

Engø Engø is a peninsula in Sandefjord, Norway. The original name was ''Engøy'', which is a combination of the words ''eng'' (“meadow”) and ''øy'' (“island”). Former written forms include ''Ænghøy'' (in 1398), ''Enngøenn'' (1575), ''Eng ...

peninsula in nearby

Sandefjord 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 ...

. Veierland lies in the Tønsberg Fjord, south of Nøtterøy Island, and west of Tjøme Island. The island measures 4.4 square kilometers and has approximately 150 full-time residents. It lies just east of Sandefjord, connected by a 10-15 minute ferry ride onboard MF Jutøya. As of 2015, Veierland is home to 450 vacation homes and 150 full-time residents. It is a car-free island, but residents may have permits for driving mopeds and tractors. Its church was established in 1905, while Veierland School closed in 2013. Veierland is primarily a summer community and has a 17-kilometer shoreline. Popular beaches for bathing are Kjølholmen, Hverveodden, and Kongshavn. Places for accommodation and eateries are open during the summer months.

The name

The Norse form of the name was ''Vájir'', the plural of ''vá'' 'inlet' (referring to the deep and narrow inlets on the southern part of the island). The last element ''land'' 'land; island' is a later addition.

Description

Veierland Island has been inhabited for as long as

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

County. The island has a permanent year-round population of about 150 people as of 2010, however, the island experiences significant summer tourism. Over 450 vacation homes can be found on the island. Veierland is connected to the mainland by daily ferries from

Tenvik Tenvik is a village and statistical area (''grunnkrets'') in Nøtterøy municipality, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and no ...

and from

peninsula in

. Between 9-17 daily ferries connect the island to the mainland. Convenience stores, a golf course, and restaurants are operated on the island during summers, although most services are closed outside the tourist season. The island is primarily car-free, but residents may acquire permits for vehicles such as tractors, golf carts, and ATVs. Besides its boat harbors, beaches, and cabin communities, the island remains densely forested with much agricultural activity.

Demographics

The island was populated by between 300-400 people in the early 1900s, but the population later decreased to under 100. As of 2012, the island has a population of 150 permanent residents but the population more than doubles during summers when many of the island’s 450 vacation homes are utilized. It is a current goal of the municipality to increase the island’s year-round population to 300. Veierland has experienced a population decline in recent years, and the population decreased by 12 percent from 2012 to 2017. While the island had a permanent population of 158 in 2012, the population was 111 as of 2017. The school on the island was shut down in 2013 and the library closed in 2014. Several residents argued for the island to be transferred into the municipality of

following the 2017 municipal reform. The island had a residence duty policy (Norwegian: boplikt) from 1998-2012. Half of the homes sold on the island since 2012 are used as vacation homes.

Notability

Author

Jens Bjørneboe Jens Ingvald Bjørneboe (9 October 1920 – 9 May 1976) was a Norwegian writer whose work spanned a number of literary formats. He was also a painter and a Waldorf school teacher. Bjørneboe was a harsh and eloquent critic of Norwegian society an ...

purchased a home on Veierland from singer-songwriter

Ole Paus Ole Paus (born 9 February 1947; full name ''Ole Christian Paus'') is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, poet and author, who is widely regarded as the foremost troubadour of the contemporary Norwegian ballad tradition ( no, visebølgen). During th ...

and lived on the island until his death on May 9, 1976. Ole Paus has written a song entitled “Veierland” (on the album “Stjerner i rennesteinen”) about the island, while author

Karin Bang Karin Bang (3 December 1928 – 20 August 2017) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, children's writer and crime fiction writer.

has written three novels in which the island goes by the name ''Jutøy''. Artist

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

spent the summer of 1887 on the island, and painted numerous works while visiting on Veierland.

Wildlife

Veierland is known for its high population of deer. 78 deer were hunted here during 2001.Schandy, Tom and Tom Helgesen (2012). ''Naturperler i Vestfold''. Forlaget Tom & Tom v/Schandy. Page 124. .

References

External links

Veierland Homepage
{{Coord, 59, 09, N, 10, 21, E, display=title, region:NO_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki Nøtterøy Islands of Vestfold og Telemark