Vestby

Vestby is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestby.

Vestby kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Viken within
Norway
Vestby within Viken
Coordinates: 59°34′30″N 10°43′55″E
CountryNorway
CountyViken
DistrictFollo
Administrative centreVestby
Government
 • Mayor (2015)Tom Anders Ludvigsen (Ap)
Area
 • Total134 km2 (52 sq mi)
 • Land134 km2 (52 sq mi)
Area rank367 in Norway
Population
 (2006)
 • Total13,159
 • Rank84 in Norway
 • Density96/km2 (250/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
13.9%
Demonym(s)Vestbysokning[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3019
Official language formBokmål[2]
Websitewww.vestby.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vestby farm (Old Norse: Vestbýr), since the first church was built here. The first element is vestr which means "west" and the last element is býr meaning "farm". The neighbouring farms have the names Østby ("eastern farm"), Sunnby ("southern farm"), and Nordby ("northern farm"); and they must all four be the parts of a bigger and older farm, whose name is now unknown.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 18 June 1982 and designed by Bjørn Linnestad. The arms show three gold bottony crosses on a red background, two over one. They represent the three original parishes in the municipality: Vestby, Garder, and Såner. At the same time they also represent the three natural harbors in the area: Emmerstad, Kjøvangen, and Sonskilen.[3][4]

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Vestby by country of origin in 2017[5]
Ancestry Number
Poland377
Sweden206
Iraq129
Somalia119
Germany117
Pakistan113
Kosovo108
Denmark104
Vietnam99
Philippines96

History

Archaeological research in Hølen has confirmed that the area has been populated since about 2400 BC. There are various archeological finds in the area, such as the ones from the Bronze Age.

Many Norwegian emigrants went to America during the 1840s and later settled in the area of the present city of Westby, Wisconsin (named after general store owner and American Civil War Union soldier Ole T. Westby); a city which still has a mostly Norwegian American population.

Hølen became known for the production of timber. It became a lading place in the 17th century.

From the Renaissance until the 18th century, Son was an important harbour. On some Dutch maps from that time, the Oslofjord is called Zoon Water.

Vestby was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The municipality and lading place of Hølen was merged with Vestby on 1 July 1943. The municipality and lading place of Son was merged with Vestby on 1 January 1964. (The lading place of Hvitsten in Vestby has never been a municipality of its own.)

Geography

Vestby includes the villages Vestby, Hølen, Hvitsten, Garder, and Son. Recently urbanized areas are Randem, Pepperstad skog, and Sole skog. Randem is located north of the municipal centre, Vestby, and includes an industrial area. Pepperstad is located southwest of Vestby, by the road 155. Sole skog lies west of the centre. The village of Vestby has 5,424 inhabitants (2006). All the small towns together have over 13,000 inhabitants.

Notable residents

International relations
Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns – Sister cities

Vestby is twinned with the following municipality:[6]

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References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  4. "Kommunevåpenet for Vestby kommune" (in Norwegian). Vestby kommune. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  5. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  6. "Vennskapskommune" (in Norwegian). Vestby kommune. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
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