Larvik is a town and municipality in the province of Vestfold in
Vestfold and Telemark county. It borders in the north on Kongsberg
and Holmestrand, in the east on Sandefjord and Tønsberg, and in the
west on Porsgrunn, Siljan and Bamble.
In connection with the
municipal reform, the municipality was merged with Lardal
municipality on 1 January 2018.
Geography
Topography
Larvik is a coastal municipality,
which also includes large good agricultural areas, as well as
forests and mountains. In the north-south direction, the
municipality has an extent of approx. 40 km. The highest point is
Vindfjell with its 622 meters (before the merger with Lardal, the
highest point was Vettakollene 453 masl).
Rakkebåene and the
lighthouse Svenner are well-known landmarks in the skerries outside
the city. Larviksfjorden leads from the Skagerrak into the city.
Farrisvannet is 20.5 km long and has a depth of 131 meters.
Topographically, Farrisvannet is a continuation of Larviksfjorden.
The water is dammed up by the ridge at Farriseidet, so that the
fjord becomes a lake. The fall of 22 meters from the lake to the sea
was used for various types of industrial activities. On the outside
of the row, a natural spring emerges, which constantly provides
water for the production of Farris in bottles. Lake Farris also
supplies drinking water to large parts of the former Vestfold
county.
Hallevannet is another larger lake, located southwest
of Larvik municipality. On the border with Sandefjord in the west is
Goksjø.
One of the country's largest rivers, Numedalslågen,
originating on the Hardangervidda, has its outlet in the sea east of
the city. The lower part of Lågendalen, formerly Hedrum
municipality, is part of Larvik.
Geology
The bedrock in
the entire municipality is larvicite, a blue, crystalline deep rock.
The rock is named after the town of Larvik, and in the entire
southern part of Vestfold is located on this rock, which also means
a lot financially.
Quaternary geologically, Larvik is
characterized by the large end moraine, raet, which dominates large
parts of the landscape in Østfold and Vestfold. Raet is under water
from Jomfruland to Mølen, the southernmost in Larvik municipality,
then it forms a diagonal across Brunlanes to Farriseidet before
continuing through the neighboring municipalities in the direction
of SE.
Raet dams up lakes, is important for the transport
system and is the basis for agriculture.
Larvik is part of
Gea Norvegica Geopark.
Climate
Larvik has a moderate
coastal climate, with relatively mild winters and warm summer
weather.