Birkenes

Infobox_Kommune
name = Birkenes
idnumber = 0928
county = Aust-Agder
landscape = Sørlandet
capital = Birkeland
demonym = Birkenesing
Borkis
language = Neutral


munwebpage = www.birkenes.kommune.no
governor = Harald Vestøl (H)
governor_as_of = 2004
arearank = 164
area = 674
arealand = 630
areapercent = 0.21
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 220
population = 4,339
populationpercent = 0.09
populationdensity = 7
populationincrease = 7.0
lat_deg = 58 | lat_min = 26 | lat_sec = 58 | lon_deg = 8 | lon_min = 14 | lon_sec = 0
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6479018 | utm_easting = 0455258 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Birkenes is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. Birkeland is the administrative center and about half of the municipality's residents live there. Birkeland is 30-kilometers from Kristiansand and 13-kilometers from Lillesand.

The parish of Tveit had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikt on 1 January 1838 because the main part of Tveit belonged to the county of Vest-Agder and the annex of "Birkenæs" belonged to the county of Aust-Agder. The former municipalities of Herefoss and Vegusdal were merged with Birkenes on 1 January 1967.

The municipality borders Kristiansand and Vennesla municipalities in Vest-Agder and Iveland, Evje og Hornnes, Froland, Grimstad, and Lillesand municipalities in Aust-Adger.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old "Birkenes" farm (Old Norse "Birkines"), since the first church was built there. The first element is "birki" which means "birch wood" and the last element is "nes" which means "headland".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 5 December 1986. The arms are a canting of "bjørk" or birch. The green color symbolizes agriculture in the municipality. The three leaves symbolize the three villages in the municipality: Birkenes, Herefoss, and Vegusdal. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/b/birkenes.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=3 October|accessyear=2008]

Economy

Agriculture and timbering are important sources of employment, but the municipality also has small industry with about 400 different work sites. The largest enterprise is Owens Corning with approximately 180 employees. Other larger businesses include Uldal Vinduer og Dører, Foss Bad, Scanflex, KOAB Industrier, and Birkeland Trykkeri.

The Sørlandsbanen provides rail service at Herefoss station.

References

External links

* [http://www.kulturnett.no/geografisknavigering/geografisknavigering_visning.jsp?fylke=T921062&kommune=T954958 Kultur i Birkenes på kart] from Kulturnett.no
* [http://www.birkenes.org Website about Birkenes]
* [http://kart.kristiansand.kommune.no/GISLINEWebInnsyn/Map.aspx?knr=0928&xmin=27500&xmax=71250&ymin=-26500&ymax=3600 Chart of Birkenes]