A kjøpstad (historically kjøbstad , kjöbstad , or kaupstad , from Old Norse : kaupstaðr ) is an old Scandinavian term for a " market town " in Denmark–Norway for several hundred years. Kjøpstads were places of trade and exporting materials (e.g. timber, flour, iron and other common goods). Towns were given the " dignity " or rank of being referred to as a kjøpstad when they reached a certain population. They had an established means of industry and other notable items, such as dockyards, steam mills, forges, churches, and grammar schools. The citizens of a kjøpstad could buy and sell goods and conduct other economic activities .
20-534: Raufoss is a town in Vestre Toten Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway . The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. It is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the larger town of Gjøvik . The town is located along the municipal border with the neighboring Gjøvik Municipality and the actual urban area of Raufoss does cross the border slightly, including
40-408: A bykommune (urban municipality) or herredskommune (rural municipality). This distinction was rescinded by The Local Government Act of 1992. Between 1960 and 1965 many Norwegian municipalities were merged. For instance when the urban municipality Brevik merged with the urban municipality Porsgrunn and the rural municipality Eidanger , the new municipality was called Porsgrunn and it kept
60-569: A local economic base for constructing fortifications and a population for the area's defence. It also restricted the Hanseatic League merchants from trading in places other than those designated. King Olaf established a market town in Bergen in the 11th century, and it soon became the residence of many wealthy families. Import and export were to be conducted only through market towns to allow oversight of commerce and to simplify
80-502: A municipality number in which the third digit was a zero and rural municipalities were given other numbers. In 1952 the special classifications of for towns/cities (kjøpstad, bergstad, and ladested) were entirely rescinded from the law and replaced by the simple classification of by . Starting on 1 January 1965, the government's focus was moved from the individual towns/cities to their corresponding municipalities. All Norwegian towns/cities and rural municipalities were classified as either
100-462: A small part of Gjøvik as well (as defined by Statistics Norway ). The 7.11-square-kilometre (1,760-acre) town has a population (2021) of 7,839 and a population density of 1,102 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,850/sq mi). Of these numbers, 6.71 square kilometres (1,660 acres) of the town and 7,565 people live in the Vestre Toten part of the town and 0.4 square kilometres (99 acres) of
120-682: A town or city. Each of these were granted certain special rights based on their classification and they did hold administrative authority within their borders. A ladested was subordinate to a kjøpstad and over time some of the ladesteds were "upgraded" to the status of kjøpstad in order to gain more trading rights. In 1665, Norway had 20 towns. There were 9 full market towns ( kjøpstad ): Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim, Tønsberg, Stavanger, Skien, Fredrikstad, Halden, and Kristiansand. There were two mountain towns { bergstad ): Kongsberg and Røros. There were 9 market seaports ( ladested ): Larvik, Moss, Porsgrunn, Molde, Kragerø, Risør, Holmestrand, Mandal, and Drammen (which
140-568: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . List of towns and cities in Norway This is a list of towns and cities in Norway . The Norwegian language word by means a town or city –there is no distinction between the two words as there is in English. Historically, the designation of town/city was granted by the king, but since 1996 that authority was given to
160-635: Is also the second to last stop on the Gjøvikbanen railway line. The station also has a local bus service. The community has an active sports community pivoting around the sports club Raufoss I.L. where the football team has been the most prominent part of the club. Raufoss Fotball currently plays in Norwegian 1st Division . In addition to sports, Raufoss has an active music community which has fostered such musicians as Ronni Le Tekrø of rock band TNT (band) . This Innlandet location article
180-428: The city of Oslo , Oslo Municipality , and Oslo County are all one unified unit of government. Ladested Norway also had a subordinate category to the market town , the "small seaport" ( Norwegian : ladested or lossested ). These were ports or harbours with a monopoly to import and export goods and materials in both the port and a surrounding outlying district. These places were usually subordinate to
200-549: The city status was awarded by the king and Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development . Since then, the status of town/city is decided by each municipal council and then it is formally accepted by the state. Since 1997, a municipality must have a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants in order to declare city status for one of its settlements. In 1999, the municipal council of Bardu Municipality declared city status for Setermoen , only to be rejected because
220-474: The ability to set up a town council just like the other cities and rural municipalities in the country. Most kjøpstads and ladesteds did this immediately, although some did not. Norwegian "market towns" died out and were replaced by free markets during the 19th century. During the 1950s, there were 44 kjøpstads and 20 ladesteds that had their town councils in Norway. In 1952, the legal distinctions for both
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#1732798060813240-408: The cities of today which got this status before 1996, Tvedestrand with 1,983 inhabitants is the smallest. On another note, the laws of 1996 allowed some settlements which lost their city status in the 1960s to regain it. Oslo , founded in the 11th century, is the largest city and also the capital of Norway. Oslo is the only city in Norway that is consolidated with its municipality and county, thus
260-423: The imposition of excise taxes and customs duties . This practice encouraged growth in areas with strategic significance, providing a local economic base for constructing fortifications and a sufficient population to defend the area. It also restricted Hanseatic League merchants from trading in areas other than those designated. Under the 1838 formannskapsdistrikt law, kjøpstads and ladesteds were granted
280-452: The local municipal councils for each municipality in Norway. In Norway today, there are 108 towns/cities, but they have no legal authority or powers and they are not an administrative body, it is simply a designation. All local government rests with the municipality which may or may not have a town/city located within it. Historically, the words kjøpstad ( market town ), ladested (small seaport), or bergstad were used for
300-583: The municipality fell short of the population limit. One exception is Honningsvåg in Nordkapp Municipality , where the municipality actually has less than 5,000 inhabitants but declared city status before the limit was implemented by law in 1997. Because of the new laws in 1996-1997, Norway witnessed a rapid rise in the number of cities after that time. A number of relatively small settlements are now called by , such as Brekstad with 1,828 inhabitants and Kolvereid with 1,448 inhabitants. Among
320-472: The municipality number for Porsgrunn. As a result, Brevik was no longer considered an urban municipality/town. On another note, when the urban municipality Hønefoss was merged with the rural municipalities Hole , Norderhov , Tyristrand , and Ådal to form the new municipality of Ringerike , Ringerike retained the old municipality number of Hønefoss meaning that it retained its town/city status. The same thing happened to Egersund and Florø . Before 1996,
340-457: The nearest kjøpstad. Typically, these were locations for exporting timber and importing grain and goods. Local farm goods and timber sales were all required to pass through merchants at either a small seaport ( ladested ) or a market town ( kjøpstad ) before export, which encouraged local merchants to ensure trading went through them, which was so effective in limiting unsupervised sales (smuggling) that customs revenues increased from less than 30% of
360-561: The total tax revenues in 1600 to more than 50% of the total taxes by 1700. Norway developed market towns at a much later period than other parts of Europe. The reasons for this late development are complex but include the sparse population, lack of urbanisation, no real manufacturing industries, and no cash economy. The first kjøpstads date back to the 11th and 12th centuries when the King of Norway sought to centralise commerce in specific places that offered strategic significance, providing
380-601: The town and 274 people live in the part of Raufoss that is in Gjøvik. The village of Raufoss was given town status in 2019. The town is named after a waterfall in the river Hunnselva . The first element is raud which means "red", and the last element is foss which means "waterfall". The color red indicates traces of iron in the river bed. The largest employer is what was earlier Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikker , now split into several sub companies. These include Nammo , Hydro Aluminium and Raufoss Technology . Raufoss
400-423: Was actually 2 towns: Bragernes and Strømsø). All of the ladested places on this list were later upgraded to kjøpstads . During the 1800s, urbanization took hold in Norway and many new towns/cities were added. The special trading rights for towns/cities were abolished in 1857. In 1946, Norwegian municipalities were each assigned a municipality number , a four-digit codes based on ISO 3166-2:NO . Towns/cities got
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