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Kongsberg

Kongsberg kommune
Municipality
Kongsberg in July 2006
Kongsberg in July 2006
Coat of arms of Kongsberg kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Kongsberg kommune
Buskerud within
Norway
Kongsberg within Buskerud
Kongsberg within Buskerud
Coordinates: 59°34′56″N 9°40′39″E / 59.58222°N 9.67750°E / 59.58222; 9.67750Coordinates: 59°34′56″N 9°40′39″E / 59.58222°N 9.67750°E / 59.58222; 9.67750
Country Norway
County Buskerud
District Lower Buskerud
Administrative centre Kongsberg
Government
 • Mayor (2013) Wenche Grinderud
Area
 • Total 792 km2 (306 sq mi)
 • Land 753 km2 (291 sq mi)
Area rank 138 in Norway
Population (2011)
 • Total 25,090
 • Rank 27 in Norway
 • Density 31.2/km2 (81/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 8.9 %
Demonym(s) Kongsbergenser
Kongsbergensar
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0604
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.kongsberg.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Kongsberg (About this sound listen ) is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.

The city was founded in 1624 under the name Konings Bierg by Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV as a mining community. In Norway's 1749 census, Kongsberg was the most populous town in Eastern Norway. It was granted its royal charter of trade—amounting to official township—in 1802. The municipality of Kongsberg was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Ytre Sandsvær and Øvre Sandsvær were merged into the municipality of Kongsberg on 1 January 1964.

Today, Kongsberg is perhaps best known for being the home of Norway's major defence contractor, Kongsberg Gruppen, formerly Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. Two of its well-known products were the Kongsberg Colt and the Krag–Jørgensen rifle. The latter was adopted in the late 19th century as the standard army rifle in Denmark, United States of America and Norway.


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