Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county. It borders in the
north to Lillehammer, in the south to Østre Toten and Vestre Toten,
and in the west to Søndre Land and Nordre Land. Above Lake Mjøsa in
the east are Ringsaker municipality, and Helgøya. Gjøvik was part of
Oppland county until this became part of Innlandet in 2020.
The municipal center is the town Gjøvik which is located by Lake
Mjøsa, also called "The white town by Lake Mjøsa". The wheeled
steamer DS «Skibladner», «Mjøsa's white swan», has its home port
here. The city was one of the host cities during the Olympics in
Lillehammer in 1994 when Gjøvik Olympic Mountain Hall was the arena
for ice hockey.
Geography
Gjøvik municipality consists of four main areas:
Gjøvik town and the former manors (rural municipalities) Vardal,
Snertingdal and Biri, which in 1964 were merged into Gjøvik
municipality.
In the former Vardal county are the settlements
Hunndalen and Bybrua (Hunndalen is today considered part of the
settlement Gjøvik). In Snertingdal is the village «Snertingdal
center» and in Biri is the village «Biri center». Almost in the
middle of the municipality is the Redalen area.
The
municipality's area is 672.16 km², of which 490 km² (73%) is forest
area, 68.458 km² (10%) is cultivated land and 40.55 km² (6%) is
water.
Nature and topography
Most of Gjøvik consists of
three valleys that extend about 2-3 miles west of Lake Mjøsa. Biri
and Biri Built along the river Vismunda, Snertingdal and Redalen
along the Kjerringelva, Storelva and Stokkelva - and Vardal with
Hunndalen and Gjøvik By along the Ålstadelva, Vesleelva and
Hunnselva. Between these valleys are wooded hills. North of the
valleys is Biristrand along Lake Mjøsa.
Gjøvik railway
station is located 129.2 m above sea level, previously marked with a
sign (Precision level element) at the bottom of the wall at the
southeast corner of the station building, approximately at the
height of the platform. Gjøvik's highest point is the lowest of two
peaks on Ringsrudåsen, 837 masl, on the hill between Biri Øverbygd
and Øvre Snertingdal, on the border with Nordre Land.
Population and demographics
A person from Gjøvik is called
«gjøvikenser». The number of inhabitants in Gjøvik municipality was
29,677 as of 1 April 2014. On 1 January 2015, the population had
increased to 30,063. The majority of the inhabitants of the
municipality live in Gjøvik city. The town of Gjøvik had 20,474
inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. This makes Gjøvik the second
largest of Mjøsbyene, after Hamar. Gjøvik and Hamar are equal in
terms of population within the respective municipalities' borders.
Districts
Gjøvik city can be divided into several districts /
residential areas that largely follow Hunnselva's course. Socially
and geographically, however, there are three main parts of the city
that stand out. Nordbyen (north of Hunnselva) consists of the most
important areas in the center of Gjøvik in addition to the
residential areas at the urban areas Hunn and Tranberg. This
district has traditionally housed the bourgeoisie in the areas close
to the city center north of the city center. Sørbyen has
traditionally been home to the working-class families who were
employed in the many large industrial companies in and around
Gjøvik. These are residential areas by Tongjordet, Kallerud and
Kopperud, and Vindingstad. Hunndalen is a suburb that grew up around
Mustad Fabrikker and Totens cellulosefabrikk - and has gradually
grown together with Gjøvik and become a significant part of the
city. Northwest of the town are the hamlets Bybrua and Tobru from
the old Vardal municipality. The population composition in the
districts has largely changed in recent decades, and the traditional
settlement pattern has changed significantly.