Halden is a town and municipality in the province of Østfold in
Viken county in eastern Norway. The large municipality of Halden
borders Rakkestad in the north, Aremark in the east, and Sarpsborg
in the northwest, as well as the municipalities of Strömstad, Tanum
and Dals-Ed in Sweden in the southwest, south and southeast,
respectively.
The municipality consists of the former
districts Berg and Idd as well as the urban municipality Halden.
Berg and Idd are typical agricultural areas, while Halden is one of
Norway's oldest industrial cities. The industry gained power from
waterfalls in the river Tista, which forms the lower part of the
Halden watercourse.
Halden is Norway's border town with
Sweden and is characterized, historically and visually, by
Fredriksten Fortress.
Geology
Throughout the municipality, the bedrock of bedrock
origin, granite along the Iddefjord south of the city center, is
mainly gneiss elsewhere in the municipality. The bedrock has a clear
stretching direction northwest – southeast along the Iddefjord and a
number of valleys and watercourses are characterized by this.
Otherwise, there are cracks across the direction of the area,
including the Ringdalsfjord, the outer part of the Iddefjord, and
its extension to the east with Tistedalen and Femsjøen.
The
Quaternary geology is characterized by the large ridge that runs
through the municipality from northwest to southeast and is
particularly evident at Rokke.
Watercourses and rivers
Further south, the row dams up several large lakes, including Lake
Femsjøen. Tista - below Femsjøen - and Steinselva - above Femsjøen -
form the lower course of the Halden watercourse, known for its canal
facilities and locks. The Enningdalsvassdraget flows to the bottom
of the Iddefjord, partly also through Sweden. In the east and south
there are large stretches of forest. To the northwest and on
Iddesletta just southeast of the city center are the most important
agricultural areas, both places outside the row.
Tista has
waterfalls that laid the foundation for sawmills and industry; the
river flows through the old industrial town and former town of
Tistedal. Halden's city center is located on both sides of the river
which divides the city in two, the north side and the south side.
There is a connection between the districts by bridges, in the
center there is a footbridge in addition to the ordinary bridge.
Climate
Meteorological measurements have been conducted under
the auspices of met.no in Halden from 1884. The highest and lowest
officially registered temperatures in the municipality are 32.0
degrees on 8 August 1975 at Prestebakke and −33.7 degrees on 15
January 1893 at Krappeto, respectively.