Buskerud

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Buskerud
County
Buskerud fylke
Flag Coat of arms
Buskerud within Norway
Coordinates: 60°30′00″N 09°30′00″E / 60.50000°N 9.50000°E / 60.50000; 9.50000
Country	Norway
Region	Østlandet
County ID	NO-33
Administrative centre	Drammen
Government
• Governor	Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl   Arbeiderpartiet   (1999–2020)
• County mayor	Tore Opdal Hansen   Conservative Party   (2024–)[1]
Area
• Total	14,908 km2 (5,756 sq mi)
• Land	13,794 km2 (5,326 sq mi)
• Rank	#12 in Norway, 4.53% of Norway's land area
Population  (30 September 2019)
• Total	284,955
• Rank	8 (5.29% of country)
• Density	18/km2 (50/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	6.7 %
Demonym	Buskerudfolk
Time zone	UTC+01 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02 (CEST)
Official language form	Neutral
Income (per capita)	155,400 NOK
GDP (per capita)	227,626 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank	7 (3.57% of country)
Website	www.bfk.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Buskerud (Urban East Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbʉ̂skərʉː] ^ⓘ) is a 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 Hardangervidda mountain range in the northwest. The county administration was in modern times located in Drammen.^[2] Buskerud was merged with Akershus and Østfold into the newly created Viken County on 1 January 2020.^[3] On 23 February 2022, the Viken County Council voted in a 49 against 38 decision to submit an application to the Norwegian government for a county demerger.^[4] Due to this, Buskerud (except the area forming the defunct municipalities of Røyken and Hurum) was re-established in 2024.

The county was named after the old manor Buskerud (Old Norse: Biskupsruð) (Biskopsrøysa) located on the west side of the Drammen River in Åmot, Modum municipality. The first element is the genitive case of biskup, 'bishop' (referring to the Bishop of Hamar), the last element is ruð n 'clearing, farm'. The farm was one of the largest in Buskerud, and the original name of the farm (before it became a benefice) was probably Modum. At the time of the Reformation (c. 1536–39) the farm became property of the Crown at which time the farm then served as the residence of the king's bailiffs until 1668.^[5][6][7]

Buskerud extended from Hurum at the Oslofjord to the Halling mountains and Hardanger. The county was conventionally divided into traditional districts. These were Hallingdal, Numedal, Ringerike, Lower Buskerud, which was originally part of Vestfold, and Western Vingulmark.

Hallingdal consisted of Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.^[8] Numedal consisted of Flesberg, Rollag and Nore og Uvdal.^[9] Ringerike consisted of Hole, Krødsherad, Modum, Ringerike and Sigdal. Western Vingulmark consisted of Hurum and Røyken.^[10][11] Lower Buskerud consisted of Drammen, Hurum, Kongsberg, Lier, Nedre Eiker, Røyken and Øvre Eiker. The district was merged from parts that belonged to Vestfold and Vingulmark.^[12]

Buskerud's western part was a mountainous plateau with forested valleys and high, grassy pastures; its eastern part contains a lowland basin with many lakes and streams. Tyrifjorden and Krøderen were the biggest lakes. Numedalslågen, the third longest river in Norway, starting in Hordaland, ran through Buskerud unto Vestfold where it reached the sea, while river Begna sweeps into lake Sperillen.

• Haukefjellet
• Hestebottnuten
• Julsennuten
• Kyrkjebønosi
• Nystølsvarden
• Øljunuten
• Raggsteinnuten
• Storebottnosi
• Storegrønut
• Tyrvlesnuten
• Vargebreen

Buskerud was separated from Akershus as an amt of its own in 1685, but the amt was smaller than today. It then consisted of the present districts Eiker, Hallingdal, and Ringerike. The area of the present municipalities of Flesberg, Hurum, Kongsberg, Lier, Nore og Uvdal, Rollag and Røyken were transferred from Akershus amt to Buskerud amt in 1760. The name Buskeruds amt was changed to Buskerud fylke in 1919. The municipality of Skoger was transferred from Vestfold to Buskerud in 1964.^[16]

The area Ringerike may once have been a small kingdom. During the 10th century, Norway's kings Olaf Tryggvason and Olaf Haraldsson grew up at Bønsnes in Ringerike. In the valley of Numedal, silver was mined in Kongsberg from the 17th century until discontinued in 1957. Weapons industry had been developed in Kongsberg from 1814, and various high tech industry companies now represent the town's major employers. At Modum there was also Blaafarveværket, a cobalt pigment production works (Blue Colour Works).^[17]

Today, agriculture, lumber, wood-pulp mills and other related industries are the county's main economic activities; ample hydroelectric power is produced by the rivers Begna (Begnaelva) and Rands (Randselva) . Buskerud has also a large forested area. Substantial income is derived from high tech industries located in Kongsberg. Other significant income comes from the cabin areas in northern Buskerud.^[18][19]

Buskerud's coat of arms were adopted in April 1966. It features a blue bear whose colours are symbolic of the blue colour works. The silver background of Buskerud's coat of arms represents the silver industry in Kongsberg.

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd gen.) in Buskerud by country of origin in 2017[20]
Nationality	Population (2017)
Poland	8,259
Turkey	2,975
Lithuania	2,961
Iraq	2,293
Afghanistan	1,928
Somalia	1,874
Sweden	1,842
India	1,662
Pakistan	1,641
Denmark	1,638
Kosovo	1,499
Germany	1,482
Iran	1,327
Eritrea	1,211
Bosnia-Herzegovina	1,206
Vietnam	1,193
Thailand	1,095
Syria	1,043
Russia	1,040
Philippines	956

• Frode Andresen, Ringerike
• Christer Basma, Røyken
• Dag Bjørndalen, Modum
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Modum
• Håvard Bøkko, Hol
• Kim Christiansen, Drammen
• Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl, Modum
• Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Hole
• Erik Hagen, Ringerike
• Anders Jacobsen, Ringerike
• Jørre Kjemperud, Modum
• Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, Nes
• Børre Næss, Kongsberg
• Sigurd Pettersen, Rollag
• Steinar Pettersen, Drammen
• Asbjørn Ruud, Kongsberg
• Birger Ruud, Kongsberg
• Sigmund Ruud, Kongsberg
• Strømsgodset, Gulskogen, Drammen
• Ådne Søndrål, Hol

• Sæbjørn Buttedahl, Lier
• Karin Fossum, Lier
• Morten Harket, Kongsberg
• Theodor Kittelsen, Sigdal
• Jonas Lie, Modum
• Jørgen Moe, Hole
• Anne Marie Ottersen, Kongsberg
• Olav Thon, Ål
• Christian Skredsvig, Sigdal
• Jonas Fjeld, Drammen
• Elin Sogn, Kongsberg

• Thorbjørn Jagland, Drammen

Rank	Name	Inhabitants[21]	Area km2
1	Drammen	62,566	136
2	Ringerike	28,806	1,437
3	Kongsberg	27,817	761
4	Lier	23,267	283
5	Nedre Eiker	22,687	116
6	Røyken	18,894	112
7	Øvre Eiker	16,616	421
8	Modum	12,911	468
9	Hurum	9,045	156
10	Hole	5,976	135
11	Ål	4,672	1,083
12	Gol	4,479	517
13	Hol	4,422	1,669
14	Sigdal	3,514	813
15	Nes	3,420	776
16	Flesberg	2,578	542
17	Nore og Uvdal	2,514	2,281
18	Krødsherad	2,117	341
19	Hemsedal	2,087	715
20	Rollag	1,390	484
21	Flå	998	674
Total	Buskerud	257,673	12,336

• 
  Blaafarveværket in Modum
• 
  Hokksund Station
• 
  Frogner Rectory in Lier
• 
  Hønefoss Church in Ringerike, burned down 2007.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Buskerud.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buskerud.

• Buskerud fylkeskommune,
• Hallingdal
• Ringerikes region
• Drammens region
• Vest region