Viken (county)


Viken is a county in Eastern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 by the merger of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold with the addition of three other municipalities. It takes its name from Viken, Scandinavia, the historical region in western Sweden that before the middle ages also included areas in today's southeastern Norway, but has entirely different borders and does not include key parts of the historical region.
Both its creation and its name are subjects of strong controversy and Viken is opposed by the counties concerned; the elected regional assembly and county executive of Viken County have declared the disestablishment of Viken in 2021 as the main political goal of Viken County, while refusing to do anything to merge the counties in practice. The governing platform of Viken County describes Viken as "an ill-considered construct." In practice the existing counties will continue to function with separate county administrations based on their existing infrastructure, in anticipation of their formal reestablishment. The county seat is Oslo, which has been the seat of Akershus county since the middle ages. All of Viken is located within the historical Akershus, which historically included most of Eastern Norway.

History

In 2017 the Storting voted to merge the counties Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold by force; in addition the Storting voted to include Svelvik municipality in today's Vestfold, and Jevnaker and Lunner municipalities in today's Oppland.
Viken county is opposed by the counties concerned and is highly controversial. On 1 October 2019 the newly elected governing majority parties in the planned county declared their intention of seeking to dissolve Viken and to reestablish the counties of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold. The current official governing platform of Viken county states that "Viken is an ill-considered construct. The Storting has merged Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold against their will," and declares that the disestablishment of Viken is the main political goal of Viken County. For the same reason the county council decided that it will not do anything to merge the counties in practice or establish a common county administration; instead the existing counties will continue to function at their current locations in anticipation of their formal reestablishment.
Viken county takes its name from the historic region of Viken, which during the Viking Age loosely referred to the areas around the Oslofjord, but which became synonymous with Bohuslän during the middle ages. In Norway the use of the name Viken was only revived by the Nazi party Nasjonal Samling during the second world war in order to draw parallels to the Viking age; Nasjonal Samling referred to Vestfold and Buskerud as Vest-Viken and Akershus and Østfold as Øst-Viken. The new Viken county does not include large parts of the historical Viken, including the region's historical centre Bohuslän, most of Vestfold, or Oslo. Viken County decided that the interim county capital will be Oslo.
Former Director of Oslo Museum Lars Roede described Viken as "an extreme monstrosity that flies in the face of geography and history," "reminiscent of manipulated electoral districts in the United States" and as deeply unpopular in the affected regions. Roede also criticized "the amateurish logos and unhistorical names". Roede termed Viken an example of "Sannermandering," named after the responsible minister Jan Tore Sanner and modelled after the term Gerrymandering.

Coat of arms

The county coat of arms adopted in 2020 was based on a citizen's proposal, meaning that it bears no resemblance to older heraldic arms from the area. Historian Lars Roede criticized the coat of arms as an "amateurish logo"; Roede wrote that the coat of arms "does not adhere to the requirements of good heraldry," would have been rejected by heraldic experts in the National Archives, "looks like three flying saucers under cap" and is "a logo, not a heraldic coat of arms".

Municipalities

Viken County has a total of 51 municipalities:
No.Municipality No.NamePopulation
as at
1 January 2020		CreatedFormer Municipality No.Former County
13001Halden31,373January 1, 20200101 HaldenØstfold
23002Moss49,273January 1, 20200104 Moss
0136 Rygge		Østfold
33003Sarpsborg56,732January 1, 20200105 SarpsborgØstfold
43004Fredrikstad82,385January 1, 20200106 FredrikstadØstfold
53005Drammen101,386January 1, 20200602 Drammen
0625 Nedre Eiker		Buskerud
53005Drammen101,386January 1, 20200711 SvelvikVestfold
63006Kongsberg27,723January 1, 20200604 KongsbergBuskerud
73007Ringerike30,641January 1, 20200605 RingerikeBuskerud
83011Hvaler4,668January 1, 20200111 HvalerØstfold
93012Aremark1,325January 1, 20200118 AremarkØstfold
103013Marker3,595January 1, 20200119 MarkerØstfold
113014Indre Østfold44,792January 1, 20200122 Trøgstad
0123 Spydeberg
0124 Askim
0125 Eidsberg
0138 Hobøl		Østfold
123015Skiptvet3,805January 1, 20200127 SkiptvetØstfold
133016Rakkestad8,255January 1, 20200128 RakkestadØstfold
143017Råde7,508January 1, 20200135 RådeØstfold
153018Våler5,736January 1, 20200137 VålerØstfold
163019Vestby18,042January 1, 20200211 VestbyAkershus
173020Nordre Follo59,288January 1, 20200213 Ski
0217 Oppegård		Akershus
183021Ås20,439January 1, 20200214 ÅsAkershus
193022Frogn15,877January 1, 20200215 FrognAkershus
203023Nesodden19,616January 1, 20200216 NesoddenAkershus
213024Bærum127,731January 1, 20200219 BærumAkershus
223025Asker94,441January 1, 20200220 AskerAkershus
223025Asker94,441January 1, 20200627 Røyken
0628 Hurum		Buskerud
233026Aurskog-Høland17,390January 1, 20200121 RømskogØstfold
233026Aurskog-Høland17,390January 1, 20200222 Aurskog-HølandAkershus
243027Rælingen18,530January 1, 20200228 RælingenAkershus
253028Enebakk11,110January 1, 20200229 EnebakkAkershus
263029Lørenskog41,460January 1, 20200230 LørenskogAkershus
273030Lillestrøm85,983January 1, 20200226 Sørum
0227 Fet
0231 Skedsmo		Akershus
283031Nittedal24,249January 1, 20200233 NittedalAkershus
293032Gjerdrum6,890January 1, 20200234 GjerdrumAkershus
303033Ullensaker39,625January 1, 20200235 UllensakerAkershus
313034Nes23,092January 1, 20200236 NesAkershus
323035Eidsvoll25,436January 1, 20200237 EidsvollAkershus
333036Nannestad14,139January 1, 20200238 NannestadAkershus
343037Hurdal2,854January 1, 20200239 HurdalAkershus
353038Hole6,799January 1, 20200612 HoleBuskerud
363039Flå1,050January 1, 20200615 FlåBuskerud
373040Nesbyen3,273January 1, 20200616 NesBuskerud
383041Gol4,608January 1, 20200617 GolBuskerud
393042Hemsedal2,486January 1, 20200618 HemsedalBuskerud
403043Ål4,674January 1, 20200619 ÅlBuskerud
413044Hol4,441January 1, 20200620 HolBuskerud
423045Sigdal3,467January 1, 20200621 SigdalBuskerud
433046Krødsherad2,212January 1, 20200622 KrødsheradBuskerud
443047Modum14,115January 1, 20200623 ModumBuskerud
453048Øvre Eiker19,423January 1, 20200624 Øvre EikerBuskerud
463049Lier26,811January 1, 20200626 LierBuskerud
473050Flesberg2,688January 1, 20200631 FlesbergBuskerud
483051Rollag1,390January 1, 20200632 RollagBuskerud
493052Nore og Uvdal2,439January 1, 20200633 Nore og UvdalBuskerud
503053Jevnaker6,852January 1, 20200532 JevnakerOppland
513054Lunner9,048January 1, 20200533 LunnerOppland