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 ...

in Notodden Municipality in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

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 the ...

. It is also the administrative centre of the municipality. The town is located at the north end of the lake

Heddalsvatnet Heddalsvatnet ( en, Lake Heddal) is a lake in the municipalities Notodden and Sauherad in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The main influx comes from the rivers Tinnelva and Heddøla. The lake covers an area of 11.9 km2 or 13.2 km2 according to NVE. ...

, at the mouth of the river

Tinnelva Tinnelva is a river in Notodden, Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. It flows from Lake Tinn to Heddalsvatnet. The waterfalls Årlifossene, Grønvollfoss, Svelgfoss and Tinnfoss are exploited, and the hydroelectric power stations have a combined installe ...

. The villages of

Heddal Heddal is a village and parish in Notodden municipality in Telemark County, Norway. History The parish of ''Hitterdal'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Notodden was separated from Heddal both as a ...

and Yli lie about to the west of the town. The villages of

Hjuksebø Hjuksebø is a village in Sauherad municipality, Norway. It is located between Notodden and Nordagutu, just south of Hjuksevelta. Hjuksebø used to have a train station on the Sørlandet Line. The Hjuksebø train disaster occurred between Hjukse ...

and

Hjuksevelta Hjuksevelta (also called Hjukse) is a village in the municipality of Sauherad, Norway, located between Nordagutu and Notodden Notodden () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region o ...

both lie about to the south of the town. The town of Kongsberg is located about to the east of the town. The village of Bolkesjø is located about to the north of the town. The town has a population (2022) of 9,041 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of . The Notodden Church is located in the town centre. The

European route E134 European highway E 134 ( no, Europavei 134) is a European highway that crosses Norway starting at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy near the city of Haugesund on the west coast, heading over Haukeli, passing the city of Drammen, and ending in Vas ...

highway passes through the town from east to west. The town's old industrial base is located near the lake shore. This is where

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

's facilities were built.

History

The village of Notodden was established as a

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 ...

on 1 January 1913. This essentially granted town status and special economic rights for the growing urban area. Under the law, this meant that the village was removed from Heddal Municipality and the new town was given self-governing authority, essentially making it a municipality of its own. Initially, the new town had a population of 4,821 people. 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 town (population: 7,523) was merged with the following areas to create the new Notodden Municipality: *most of the municipality of

Gransherad Gransherad is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway, located north-west of the city Notodden. ''Grandsherred'' was created in 1859 by the merger of the parishes Hovin in Tinn and Gransherad in Hjartdal. On January 1, 1886 Hovin was se ...

(population: 1,115) - except for the upper Jondalen valley which became part of Kongsberg Municipality *the Rudsgrendi area of Hovin Municipality (population: 21) *the entire municipality of

(population: 4,844)

Media gallery

Heddalsvannet Notodden.jpg Notodden, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons gate 1.jpg Notodden E134 Lauskaas IMG 2863.JPG Notodden Storgata.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2023 Notodden Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Telemark 1913 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References