Ringerike is a Norwegian municipality located in the former
Buskerud county in Viken county. Its administration center is
Hønefoss. The municipality borders in the north to Sør-Aurdal and
Søndre Land, in the east to Gran, Jevnaker, Lunner and Oslo, in the
south to Bærum and Hole, and in the west to Modum, Krødsherad and
Flå. Ringerike thus has eleven neighboring municipalities. The
municipality had 30,442 inhabitants as of 1 January 2019.
Ringerike municipality arose on 1 January 1964, after a municipal
merger between the municipalities of Hole, Tyristrand, Hønefoss,
Norderhov and Ådal. A smaller part of Flå municipality was also
added to the new large municipality. Hole withdrew from the large
municipality from 1 January 1977 and became an independent
municipality again. Ringerike is one of the medium-sized urban
municipalities in Norway and it is the largest forest industry
municipality, where the business community is largely based on
timber. However, significant agriculture is also practiced there.
Industrial, trade and service activities are also growing.
The name Ringerike is composed of the two words hringr (ring) and
riki (kingdom or landscape), and was originally used for a much
larger geographical area than that covered by the modern
municipality, namely the landscape area called Ringerike. The
origins date back to the first named kings who lived in Ringerike
and as far back as Norwegian history is written. It is believed that
the first "ring kings" settled (in a ring) around the Tyrifjord, and
that this may have something to do with the name.
Ringerike Municipality covers the area to the north and west of the
Tyrifjord. The Begna River flows from the Jotunheimen Mountains through
Ringerike into the fjord. The lakes Storflåtan and Sperillen are in the
municipality. Ringerike borders Oslo Municipality to the south-east. It
also shares a border with Sør-Aurdal, Søndre Land, Gran, Lunner,
Jevnaker, Bærum, Hole, Modum, Krødsherad and Flå.
The
municipality's highest elevation is the Gyranfisen at 1126.7 moh. in the
northwest of the municipality. From the north, the area drops steeply
towards the lowlands to the south. The southeastern and central part of
Ringerike belongs to the Oslograben.
The largest town is the
administrative center Hønefoss. Other settlements are Hallingby,
Helgelandsmoen, Nakkerud, Norderhov, Sokna, Tyristrand and Vang. The
inhabitants of Ringerike are called Ringeriking. As in most
municipalities in the province of Viken, the official language form is
the written language Bokmål.
The Bergen Railway runs through
Hønefoss. It is planned to complete the so-called Ringeriksbanen by
2029, which should reduce the travel time between Hønefoss and Oslo.
Important roads running through the municipality are E16, Riksvei 35,
which connects to Tønsberg, and Riksvei 7, which connects Hønefoss to
Bergen.
Ringerike Municipality was formed on January 1, 1964 by merging the
previous municipalities of Hønefoss, Hole, Norderhov, Ådal and
Tyristrand. In 1977 Hole was again separated from Ringerike and declared
a separate municipality again. Until December 31, 2019, Ringerike
belonged to the former province of Buskerud. As part of the regional
reform in Norway, this was transferred to the newly created province of
Viken.
There are archaeological finds in Ringerike that date back
to the Stone Age. In Norderhov there is a church that was completed in
the 12th century.
In addition to public administration and the service sector, trade in
goods and the accommodation industry are important employers. This is
mainly because Hønefoss is a trading center and tourism plays a bigger
role. In Hønefoss is the headquarters of the Norwegian cartography
authority, the Kartverket. In industrial production, wood processing has
long been one of the most important sectors. However, this became
insignificant with the closure of the Follum Fabrikker of the paper
manufacturer Norske Skog.
Grain cultivation is particularly
important for agriculture. Animal husbandry is mainly present in the
area of cattle, pigs and chickens. With 220,800 m³ of harvested wood in
2015, Ringerike was also the municipality with the highest yield in what
was then Buskerud County.
There are ten power plants in
Ringerike, which together had an average annual production of 525
gigawatt hours in 2016. The largest of these is the Hofsfoss power
plant, which went into operation in 1978. Between 1991 and 2020 it had
an average annual production of around 151 GWh. A head of around 27
meters is used at the power plant.
The coat of arms shows a gold ring on a red background and was confirmed in 1967. The colors red and gold, the royal colors of Norway, represent royalty. The ring is a speaking symbol and at the same time symbolizes the unity of the area, which has been a unit since the Middle Ages.