Østfold County Municipality () is the regional governing administration of

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

county in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The county municipality was established in its most early form on 1 January 1976 when the law was changed to allow elected county councils in Norway. The county municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020, when Østfold was merged with the neighboring counties of

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

and

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

, creating the new

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the Göta canal *IF Viken, ...

county which is led by the Viken County Municipality. On 1 January 2024, following the dissolution of Viken county, the county municipality of Østfold was re-established. The administrative seat is located in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of the 11 upper secondary schools with about 10,000 pupils. It manages all the county roadways,

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, dental care,

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, and

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

sites in the county. Public transport is managed through

Østfold Kollektivtrafikk Østfold Kollektivtrafikk is a county agency responsible for administrating public transport in Østfold, Norway. Created on 1 June 2002 and subordinate Østfold county municipality, it is responsible for route planning, purchase of transport fro ...

County government

The Østfold

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

() is made up of 35 representatives that are elected every four years. The council essentially acts as a

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

or legislative body for the county and it meets several times each year. The council is divided into standing committees and an executive board () which meets considerably more often. Both the council and executive board are led by the County Mayor () who held the executive powers of the county.

County mayors

*1976-1979: Oddvar Olsen ( Labour Party) *1980-1983: Carl Egil Wang ( Conservative Party) *1984-1987: Oddvar Olsen ( Labour Party) *1988–1991: Børre Stokke ( Conservative Party) *1992–2007:

Arne Øren Arne Øren (born 29 December 1943) is a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. He graduated from the University of Oslo with a cand.mag. degree in 1968, and later took courses which enabled him to be a teacher. He taugh ...

( Labour Party) *2008-2019: Ole Haabeth ( Conservative Party)

County council

The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostfold County Municipality County municipality County municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway