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Wikipedia / Ringerike Municipality

Ringerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hønefoss.

The municipality of Ringerike was created on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the town of Hønefoss and the rural municipalities of Hole, Norderhov, Tyristrand, and Ådal. However, the area of Hole was removed from the municipality of Ringerike on 1 January 1977 to become a separate municipality once again. The historic area of Ringerike included not just the modern municipality of Ringerike but also Hole and Krødsherad, Modum, and Sigdal.

General information

Etymology

The Old Norse form of this name was Hringaríki. The first element is (probably) the genitive plural of hringir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is ríki n 'kingdom, reich'. (See also Romerike.)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms were granted on 16 June 1967. The arms show a gold ring on a red background. The colours red and gold represent royalty and are the royal colors of Norway. The ring is a canting symbol and at the same time symbolises the unity of the area, which has been a separate entity (even considered a petty kingdom) since medieval times.

Geography

The municipality of Ringerike is bordered on the north by Sør-Aurdal Municipality and Søndre Land Municipality; on the east by Gran Municipality, Jevnaker Municipality, Lunner Municipality, and Oslo Municipality; in the south by Bærum Municipality, Hole Municipality, and Modum Municipality; and in the west by Krødsherad Municipality and Flå Municipality.

Lakes in the region include:

It is also home to mountain ranges, including Ådalsfjella.

Climate

Ringerike has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with relatively warm summers and cold winters with snow on the ground. The all-time high was recorded July 2018. The all-time low was recorded 6 January 2024.

Economy

Billions of Norwegian kroner has been invested (as of 2022) in infrastructure, as a result of a government order (oppdragsbrev) in 2015; the municipality had to do their part in regard to the project "Ringerike Line"; the national budget is not final yet (as of October 2022) and government money for the project has not yet been allocated.

Ringerike is famous for two agriculture products; Ringerike potato (Ringerikspotet) and Ringerike pea (Ringeriksert). Jens Aabel first started production of Ringerike potato around 1867. The Ringerike pea has obtained PDO (protected designation of origin). In June 2007, the Ringerike potato got "protected geographical indication" (PGI) under the name Ringerikspotet fra Ringerike. Six farmers are now producing and packing this special potato at Ask in Ringerike. Most of the potatoes are sold in the Oslo area.

The town was also home to the commercial operations of the Norwegian Mapping Authority which in 2004 divested these to the then Ugland IT Group, later renamed Nordeca. The offices were closed in 2010 with all operations moving to Lysaker due to increasing computerization of map-making.

Notable residents

Covers people in the wider Municipality,

Sport

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Ringerike:

Gallery

See also

References