Ås, Norway


Ås is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. The parish of Aas was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.
Ås is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Akershus, with a population of 20,652 in 2020, and an increase of 539 in 2008. Ås is the largest agricultural municipality of Akershus, and home to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the amusement park Tusenfryd.
In February-March 2020, it was reported that a few incidents of the COVID-19 pandemic had occurred in Ås municipality and some inhabitants infected with the virus were placed in quarantine.

General information

Etymology

The parish was named after the old Ås farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word áss meaning "hill", "ridge" or "esker". Prior to 1921, the name was spelled Aas.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 23 July 1982. The three silver diamonds are a symbol for the many archaeological findings in the area. The diamond shape was taken as it resembled many of the axes found in the area . The silver colour resembles the flint, which the tools were made of. The number of three diamonds was chosen to represent the three parishes in the municipality: Ås, Kroer and Nordby.
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Economy

The most important source of income is agriculture. Ås is the largest agricultural municipality of Akershus: providing the region with grain, vegetables, and dairy products. Of the of land in the municipality, about are farmed and about are forested.

Transportation

is a train station served by the line 550 of the Oslo Commuter Rail, operated by the Norwegian State Railways. Two of Norway's largest highways, European route E6 and European route E18, run through the municipality, and many of the inhabitants commute to Oslo.
opened on 2 January 1879
A bridge, which is a smaller-scale recreation of a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci proposed in 1502 for the crossing of the Golden Horn, is located in the municipality. It was created by Norwegian painter and artist Vebjørn Sand as part of his Da Vinci project. The bridge serves as a pedestrian crossing over European route E18.

Population

As of 1 January 2020, Ås municipality covers and has 20,652 inhabitants. In 2007, the Ås urban area had a population of 8,095. The municipality also contains one additional urban area, Togrenda, with a population of 2,783. Also, 1,566 inhabitants live in the Ski urban area.

Notable residents

The following cities are twinned with Ås: