Kristiansand

   

City arms
Kristiansand (earlier Christianssand) is a municipality and the capital city of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. It had 75,280 inhabitants as of January 1, 2004, making it the fifth largest city in Norway. The administrative district of the city covers 276 square kilometers.

Kristiansand was founded by King Christian IV, who in 1641 said the famous words "here the town shall stand". The centre of Kristiansand is called Kvadraturen due to its square gridline of streets.

The zoological garden, Kristiansand Dyrepark (Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park) just east of the city, has a wide selection of animals in, for the most part, natural habitats. This includes animals such as wolves and the lynx. Due to the allocation of areas the combination of zoo and recreational park turns out surprisingly well.

Each year in July, Kristiansand is the site of the Quart Festival, a multi-day rock music festival. [1] (http://www.quart.no/templates/dt_front.asp?gid=1001)

The Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit was born and raised in Kristiansand.

Note: Even though the names actually are different, Kristiansand is often noted as Kristiansand S (S for South) to distinguish it from Kristiansund N, also in Norway. The practice originated before postal codes were introduced, as mail sometimes was sent to the wrong city.

Kristiansand. Photo taken from Gravane, showing part of Strandpromenaden. Apartement building to the left is Markensgaten 1A. Red building to the right is seafood restaurant Sjøhuset (meaning Sea House).
Enlarge
Kristiansand. Photo taken from Gravane, showing part of Strandpromenaden. Apartement building to the left is Markensgaten 1A. Red building to the right is seafood restaurant Sjøhuset (meaning Sea House).


Vest-Agder

Audnedal | Farsund | Flekkefjord | Hægebostad | Kristiansand | Kvinesdal | Lindesnes | Lyngdal | Mandal | Marnardal | Sirdal | Songdalen | Søgne | Vennesla | Åseral

Municipalities of Norway | Norway


da:Kristiansand de:Kristiansand no:Kristiansand pl:Kristiansand


External links

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This page has been accessed 130 times. This page was last modified 16:18, 19 Nov 2004. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).