Aurskog-Høland is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. It is part of the

Romerike Romerike is a Districts of Norway, traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern ...

traditional region A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of

Bjørkelangen Bjørkelangen is a village of 3,196 inhabitants (January 2015 figures) in the Akershus county of south-eastern Norway. Located immediately north of Lake Bjørkelangen, it became the administrative centre of the Aurskog-Høland Aurskog-Høland i ...

. The municipality of

Rømskog Rømskog was a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Rømskog. The former municipality of Rømskog was separated from Rødenes on 1 ...

, in

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 was merged into Aurskog-Høland on 1 January 2020.

General information

Name

The new municipality of Aurskog-Høland was created on 1 January 1966 after the merger of the four old municipalities of

Aurskog Aurskog is a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre was Aursmoen. Aurskog was the location of the Battle of Toverud. The parish of ''Urskog'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskaps ...

Nordre Høland Nordre Høland is a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It was created when Høland municipality was split in two on 1 July 1924. At that time Nordre Høland had a population of 3.188. On 1 January 1966 Nordre Høland was merged with ...

Søndre Høland Søndre Høland is a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It was created when Høland municipality was split in two on 1 July 1924. At that time Søndre Høland had a population of 2,106. On 1 January 1964 Søndre Høland was merged wi ...

, and

Setskog Setskog is a village and a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It bordered Østfold county to the south, Hedmark county to the north and Sweden to the east. History Setskog was created by a split from Høland municipality on 1 Janua ...

. The name ''Aurskog'' comes from the old ''Ør'' farm (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ''Aurr'' which means "

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

"). The last element is ''skog'' (

: ''skógr'' which means "

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

" therefore the meaning of the full name is "the woods around the farm Aurr". Prior to 1918, the name was written "Urskog". The name ''Høland'' is an old district name. The first element is ''høy'' which means "

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

" and the last element is ''land'' which means "land".

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 4 February 1983. The arms show a black European

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

(

Astacus astacus ''Astacus astacus'', the European crayfish, noble crayfish, or broad-fingered crayfish, is the most common species of crayfish in Europe, and a traditional food source. Like other true crayfish, ''A. astacus'' is restricted to fresh water, living ...

) on a gold background. It was derived from an older logo of the municipality. The logo showed a typical landscape of the area, a lake surrounded by woods and a crayfish in the lake. To place the whole composition in a shield to create the arms was not allowed according to Norwegian heraldic rules, so the crayfish was chosen as a symbol.

Demographics

Geography

It is the biggest municipality in Akershus, covering . The main villages are

and

, of which the latter is the administrative center.

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s cover much of the area, but there is very good farmland as well. The rivers of Haldenvassdraget and Hølandselva run through the district.

Economy

An important printing office
PDC Tangen AS
and a crushing mill are situated here.

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

is less than one hour's drive to the west. The

Think In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and delibe ...

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

was manufactured in Aurskog.

Notable people

Christian Christensen Kollerud Christian Christensen Kollerud (6 August 176728 March 1833) was a Norwegian farmer who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly. Christian Christensen Kollerud was born at Setskog in Høland (now Aurskog-Holand), in A ...

(1767–1833) a farmer, rep. on

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

Engebret Soot Engebret Olsen Soot (26 May 1786 – 3 March 1859) was a Norwegian engineer. He was one of Norway's first canal builders and joined the timber channels at Otteid and Mangen-Grasmo. He is known as the father of the Fredrikshald Canal (now known a ...

(1786–1859) was a Norwegian engineer and canal builder *

Johan Vaaler Johan Vaaler (March 15, 1866 – March 14, 1910) was a Norway, Norwegian inventor and patent clerk. He has often erroneously been identified as the inventor of the common paper clip. Biography John was at Aurskog-Høland in Akershus, No ...

(1866–1910) was a Norwegian inventor and patent clerk *

Anders Heyerdahl Anders Heyerdahl (29 October 1832 – 9 August 1918) was a Norwegian violinist, composer and folk music collector. He was born in what is today Aurskog-Høland and was the younger brother of engineer Halvor Emil Heyerdahl. He studied music mainly ...

(1832–1918) was a Norwegian violinist, composer and folk music collector *

Betzy Akersloot-Berg Betzy Rezora Akersloot-Berg (16 December 1850 – 18 December 1922) was a Norwegian-born seascape and landscape painter who spent most of her career on the Dutch island of Vlieland in Friesland. Biography She was born in the village of Aurskog ...

(1850–1922) a seascape and landscape painter, lived in

Vlieland (; ) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog. Vlieland is one of the West Frisian Islands, lying in t ...

* Gunnar Nordbye (1888–1977) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

in Minnesota. *

Anette Tønsberg Anette Tønsberg (born 2 April 1970) is a Norwegian speed skater. Biography Anette Tønsberg was born in Lørenskog and represented the club Aurskog/Finstadbru SK. She competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and at the 1998 Winter ...

(born 1970) a speed skater, competed at the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

Lasse Ottesen Lasse Ottesen (born 8 April 1974) is a Norwegian former ski jumper who competed from 1991 to 2002. Career He grew up in the little hamlet of Aurskog in eastern Norway and represented the local sports club Aurskog-Finstadbru SK. His biggest s ...

(born 1974) was a former ski jumper, silver medallist at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Charlotte Frogner Charlotte Frogner (born 9 April 1981) is a Norwegian actress, best known outside of Norway for her role in the Norwegian zombie film ''Dead Snow''. She has been employed by Oslo's Det Norske Teatret since 2004 where she has appeared in a number ...

(born 1981) is a Norwegian actress

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Aurskog-Høland: * -

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Denmark, Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden with a population of 17,583 (1 January 2025).

Region Hovedstaden The Capital Region of Denmark (, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark, and contains Copenhagen, the national capital. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

* -

Kumla Kumla is a locality and the seat of Kumla Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population of 21,640 as of 2018. Geography Kumla is situated roughly 15 kilometres south of neighbouring city Örebro, and is connected to its much larger nei ...

Örebro County Örebro County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly northern region of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

* -

Sipoo Sipoo (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the municipality i ...

, Etelä-Suomi,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurskog-Holand Municipalities of Akershus Populated places established in 1966 1966 establishments in Norway