Tønsberg is a city, municipality and headquarters for the office
of state administrator in Vestfold and Telemark county. With a
population of 53,018 (as of 1 January 2020), it is Norway's tenth
largest urban area, while the municipality, with a population of
56,293 (as of 1 January 2020), is Norway's seventeenth largest. The
municipality borders in the west on the municipalities of Sandefjord
and Larvik, in the north on Horten and Holmestrand, and in the south
on Færder. East of Tønsberg is the Oslo Fjord and the middle fjord
borders the municipality there towards Moss, Råde and Fredrikstad.
Tønsberg was for a long time a town with a very limited area,
and the urban development already in the 19th century went beyond
the city limits, into the municipalities Færder (formerly Nøtterøy)
and Sem. An urban expansion in 1877 gave Tønsberg a strip of
Nøtterøy with important maritime industrial areas. In 1988, the
municipalities of Tønsberg and Sem were merged. On 1 January 2020,
Tønsberg and Re municipalities merged into the new Tønsberg
municipality and after the merger are the only municipality in
Vestfold that borders all the other Vestfold municipalities.
Tønsberg is a medieval town and is considered Norway's oldest town;
according to Snorre, the town was founded before the year 871. The
Oseberg ship, Norway's most spectacular archaeological find, was
excavated in Slagendalen, and the site, Oseberghaugen, is adapted
for visitors.
Tønsberg was Vestfold's county capital until
the county was closed down on 1 January 2020. Today, Tønsberg houses
one of two county houses in the new Vestfold and Telemark county
municipalities.
Tønsberg has large agricultural areas, and
important wetlands for bird life.