Kristiansand Municipality

General information

The kjøpstad (city) of Christianssand (later spelled Kristiansand) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Initially, the municipality and the small city had the same boundaries. On 1 July 1921, a large area (population: 2,164) of Oddernes Municipality was transferred into the city, greatly increasing the size of the city-municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the following areas were merged to form a much larger Kristiansand Municipality which included the city center and large rural areas surrounding the city:

In 2020, there were many municipal and county mergers across Norway due to the work of the Solberg cabinet. Historically, this municipality was part of the old Vest-Agder county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Agder county (after Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties were merged). Also on 1 January 2020, the following areas were merged to form a much larger Kristiansand Municipality:

Name

The municipality is named after the historic city of Christianssand (later spelled Kristiansand). The city itself was named after the Dano-Norwegian King Christian IV, who founded the city on 5 July 1641. The first element of the name is Christian or the more modern Norwegian spelling Kristian, the name of the King. The second element of the city's name, sand, comes from the Old Norse word sandr which means "sand" or "sandy ground". This refers to the sandy headland upon which the city was originally built.

Historically, the name was usually written Christianssand until 1877, although the map of the mapmaker Pontoppidan from 1785 spelled the name Christiansand (with a single 's'). In 1877, an official spelling reform aimed at bringing city names into line with modern Norwegian orthography changed the Ch to K so the name became Kristianssand. The other Norwegian cities of Kristiansund and Kristiania (Oslo), also had their spellings changed under the same reform. Despite that, a number of businesses and associations retain the "Ch" spelling. The name was again changed to its present form, Kristiansand (single "s"), in 1889.

In 2012, the city's mayor, Arvid Grundekjøn, proposed that the city be renamed Christianssand, arguing that "Kristiansand" is grammatically meaningless and that Christianssand stands for tradition. This proposal was not well received by the locals and the mayor has not pushed this further.

Coat-of-arms

The coat of arms of Kristiansand was granted on 8 December 1909 and were based on the oldest seal of the city, dating from 1643. In 1643, King Christian IV granted the young town the right to use a seal with the Norwegian lion and the royal crown. The crown indicates that the city was founded by the king. The other major element in the arms is a tree. As the species of tree is not specified, there are several known versions with differently shaped trees. A second seal, from 1658, shows a tree with leaves and what look like pine cones. On the base of the crown are the letters R. F. P., standing for Regna Firma Pietas which means "Piety strengthens the realm"; this was Christian IV's motto. Around the seal of the city is its motto, Cavsa Triumphat Tandem Bona which means "A good cause prevails in the end".

Churches

The Church of Norway has 15 parishes (sokn) within Kristiansand Municipality. It is part of the Kristiansand domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.

Geography

Kristiansand Municipality is located along the Skagerrak. Until the opening of the Kiel Canal between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the Skagerrak was very important militarily and geopolitically. This meant that for centuries it served as a military stronghold, first as Harald Fairhair's royal residence, then as a Danish-Norwegian fortress, and later as a garrison town. Kristiansand is a gateway to and from the continent, with ferry service to Denmark and a terminus of the railway line along the southern edge of South Norway.

Outside of the city, there are forests, rivers, and large hilly areas. Two major rivers flow through the municipality: the Otra and the Tovdalselva. Both flow into the Skagerrak at in the city of Kristiansand. The highest point in the municipality is the 413.76-metre (1,357.5 ft) tall mountain Havsåsknotten, located a short distance northeast of the village of Finsland in the northern part of the municipality.

Government

Kristiansand Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Kristiansand Municipality has no local parliamentary government, but is managed by the municipal council and an executive committee. The mayor is the spokesman for the city, head of the council and leader of the executive committee. In Kristiansand the mayor has represented the center-right parties since the late 1940s.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Bystyre) of Kristiansand Municipality is made up of 57 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Kristiansand Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

Twin towns – sister cities

Kristiansand is twinned with: