Viken (county)

Viken[1] is a county in Eastern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 by the merger of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold with the addition of three other municipalities. It takes its name from Viken, Scandinavia, the historical region in western Sweden that before the middle ages also included areas in today's southeastern Norway, but has entirely different borders and does not include key parts of the historical region.[2]

Viken fylke
County
Coat of arms
Viken within Norway
CountryNorway
CountyViken
RegionEastern Norway
County IDNO-30
Administrative centresOslo (county municipality)
Drammen (county council and functions of the county municipality)
Sarpsborg (functions of the county municipality)
Moss (county governor)
Area
 • Total24,592.59 km2 (9,495.25 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total1,213,354
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Websiteviken.no

Both its creation and its name are subjects of strong controversy and Viken is opposed by the counties concerned; the elected regional assembly and county executive of Viken County have declared the disestablishment of Viken in 2021 as the main political goal of Viken County, while refusing to do anything to merge the counties in practice. The governing platform of Viken County describes Viken as "an ill-considered construct." In practice the existing counties will continue to function with separate county administrations based on their existing infrastructure, in anticipation of their formal reestablishment.[3] The county seat is Oslo, which has been the seat of Akershus county since the middle ages. All of Viken is located within the historical Akershus, which historically included most of Eastern Norway.

History

In 2017 the Storting voted to merge the counties Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold by force; in addition the Storting voted to include Svelvik municipality in today's Vestfold, and Jevnaker and Lunner municipalities in today's Oppland.[4]

Viken county is opposed by the counties concerned and is highly controversial. On 1 October 2019 the newly elected governing majority parties in the planned county declared their intention of seeking to dissolve Viken and to reestablish the counties of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold.[5] The current official governing platform of Viken county states that "Viken is an ill-considered construct. The Storting has merged Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold against their will," and declares that the disestablishment of Viken is the main political goal of Viken County. For the same reason the county council decided that it will not do anything to merge the counties in practice or establish a common county administration; instead the existing counties will continue to function at their current locations in anticipation of their formal reestablishment.[6]

Viken county takes its name from the historic region of Viken, which during the Viking Age loosely referred to the areas around the Oslofjord, but which became synonymous with Bohuslän (now in Sweden) during the middle ages. In Norway the use of the name Viken was only revived by the Nazi party Nasjonal Samling during the second world war in order to draw parallels to the Viking age; Nasjonal Samling referred to Vestfold and Buskerud as Vest-Viken and Akershus (including most of modern Oslo) and Østfold as Øst-Viken.[7] The new Viken county does not include large parts of the historical Viken, including the region's historical centre Bohuslän, most of Vestfold, or Oslo.[2] Viken County decided that the interim county capital will be Oslo.

Former Director of Oslo Museum Lars Roede described Viken as "an extreme monstrosity that flies in the face of geography and history," "reminiscent of manipulated electoral districts in the United States" and as deeply unpopular in the affected regions. Roede also criticized "the amateurish logos and unhistorical names". Roede termed Viken an example of "Sannermandering," named after the responsible minister Jan Tore Sanner and modelled after the term Gerrymandering.[2]

Coat of arms

The county coat of arms adopted in 2020 was based on a citizen's proposal, meaning that it bears no resemblance to older heraldic arms from the area. Historian Lars Roede criticized the coat of arms as an "amateurish logo"; Roede wrote that the coat of arms "does not adhere to the requirements of good heraldry," would have been rejected by heraldic experts in the National Archives, "looks like three flying saucers under [a] cap" and is "a logo, not a heraldic coat of arms".[2]

Municipalities

Viken County has a total of 51 municipalities:[8][9]

No. Municipality No. Name Population
as at
1 January 2020[10]		 Created Former Municipality No. Former County
1 3001 Halden 31,373 January 1, 2020 0101 Halden Østfold
2 3002 Moss 49,273 January 1, 2020 0104 Moss
0136 Rygge
3 3003 Sarpsborg 56,732 January 1, 2020 0105 Sarpsborg
4 3004 Fredrikstad 82,385 January 1, 2020 0106 Fredrikstad
5 3005 Drammen 101,386 January 1, 2020 0602 Drammen
0625 Nedre Eiker		 Buskerud
0711 Svelvik Vestfold
6 3006 Kongsberg 27,723 January 1, 2020 0604 Kongsberg Buskerud
7 3007 Ringerike 30,641 January 1, 2020 0605 Ringerike
8 3011 Hvaler 4,668 January 1, 2020 0111 Hvaler Østfold
9 3012 Aremark 1,325 January 1, 2020 0118 Aremark
10 3013 Marker 3,595 January 1, 2020 0119 Marker
11 3014 Indre Østfold 44,792 January 1, 2020 0122 Trøgstad
0123 Spydeberg
0124 Askim
0125 Eidsberg
0138 Hobøl
12 3015 Skiptvet 3,805 January 1, 2020 0127 Skiptvet
13 3016 Rakkestad 8,255 January 1, 2020 0128 Rakkestad
14 3017 Råde 7,508 January 1, 2020 0135 Råde
15 3018 Våler 5,736 January 1, 2020 0137 Våler
16 3019 Vestby 18,042 January 1, 2020 0211 Vestby Akershus
17 3020 Nordre Follo 59,288 January 1, 2020 0213 Ski
0217 Oppegård
18 3021 Ås 20,439 January 1, 2020 0214 Ås
19 3022 Frogn 15,877 January 1, 2020 0215 Frogn
20 3023 Nesodden 19,616 January 1, 2020 0216 Nesodden
21 3024 Bærum 127,731 January 1, 2020 0219 Bærum
22 3025 Asker 94,441 January 1, 2020 0220 Asker
0627 Røyken
0628 Hurum		 Buskerud
23 3026 Aurskog-Høland 17,390 January 1, 2020 0121 Rømskog Østfold
0222 Aurskog-Høland Akershus
24 3027 Rælingen 18,530 January 1, 2020 0228 Rælingen
25 3028 Enebakk 11,110 January 1, 2020 0229 Enebakk
26 3029 Lørenskog 41,460 January 1, 2020 0230 Lørenskog
27 3030 Lillestrøm 85,983 January 1, 2020 0226 Sørum
0227 Fet
0231 Skedsmo
28 3031 Nittedal 24,249 January 1, 2020 0233 Nittedal
29 3032 Gjerdrum 6,890 January 1, 2020 0234 Gjerdrum
30 3033 Ullensaker 39,625 January 1, 2020 0235 Ullensaker
31 3034 Nes 23,092 January 1, 2020 0236 Nes
32 3035 Eidsvoll 25,436 January 1, 2020 0237 Eidsvoll
33 3036 Nannestad 14,139 January 1, 2020 0238 Nannestad
34 3037 Hurdal 2,854 January 1, 2020 0239 Hurdal
35 3038 Hole 6,799 January 1, 2020 0612 Hole Buskerud
36 3039 Flå 1,050 January 1, 2020 0615 Flå
37 3040 Nesbyen 3,273 January 1, 2020 0616 Nes
38 3041 Gol 4,608 January 1, 2020 0617 Gol
39 3042 Hemsedal 2,486 January 1, 2020 0618 Hemsedal
40 3043 Ål 4,674 January 1, 2020 0619 Ål
41 3044 Hol 4,441 January 1, 2020 0620 Hol
42 3045 Sigdal 3,467 January 1, 2020 0621 Sigdal
43 3046 Krødsherad 2,212 January 1, 2020 0622 Krødsherad
44 3047 Modum 14,115 January 1, 2020 0623 Modum
45 3048 Øvre Eiker 19,423 January 1, 2020 0624 Øvre Eiker
46 3049 Lier 26,811 January 1, 2020 0626 Lier
47 3050 Flesberg 2,688 January 1, 2020 0631 Flesberg
48 3051 Rollag 1,390 January 1, 2020 0632 Rollag
49 3052 Nore og Uvdal 2,439 January 1, 2020 0633 Nore og Uvdal
50 3053 Jevnaker 6,852 January 1, 2020 0532 Jevnaker Oppland
51 3054 Lunner 9,048 January 1, 2020 0533 Lunner

References
  1. "Arealstatistikk for Norge". Kartverket (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. Lars Roede, "Viken og Innlandet: Amatørmessige logoer og uhistoriske navn," Aftenposten, 11 January 2020
  3. Lilleås, Heidi Schei. "Monica Mæland om Viken-dramaet: Vil ikke spekulere". Nettavisen.
  4. Granli, Lene (2018-04-06). "19 fylker blir til 11 – dette skal de hete". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  5. Sørgjerd, Kjetil Magne Sørenes Christian. "Viken-flertallet vil legge ned Viken". Aftenposten.
  6. Lilleås, Heidi Schei. "Monica Mæland om Viken-dramaet: Vil ikke spekulere". Nettavisen.
  7. Telemark kan få nazi-navn, TA.no, 6 November 2017
  8. List of Norwegian municipality numbers (Norwegian)
  9. List of municipality numbers of Norway (English)
  10. Statistics Norway (web).

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