Tvedestrand
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| County | Aust-Agder | |
| Landscape | Sørlandet | |
| Municipality | NO-0938 | |
| Administrative centre | Tvedestrand | |
| Mayor (2004) | Jan Dukene (Tvedestrand Tverrpolitiske Liste) | |
| Official language form | Bokmål | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage | Ranked 322 218 km² 204 km² 0.07 % | |
| Population - Total (2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density | Ranked 168 5,887 0.13 % 0.9 % 29/km² | |
| Coordinates | Template:Coor dm | |
| www.tvedestrand.kommune.no Data from Statistics Norway (http://www.ssb.no/english/municipalities/0938) | ||
Tvedestrand is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It and belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet.
The town itself lies at the end of a picturesque fjord, Oksefjorden (originally Ufsefjorden, meaning the fjord with steep, rocky sides), while the municipality also encompasses the lovely islands Borøy and Sandøy as well as the unique village of Lyngør. Lyngør is famous for being acclaimed "Europe's best preserved village" by Europa Nostra in 1991, and also for a dramatic sea battle between English and Danish/Norwegian forces during the Napoleonic wars resulting in the sinking of last great battleship of the Danish/Norwegian forces, Najaden by the large British ship Dictator in 1812.
Tvedestrand county consists of 162 islands, with a collected coast line of 214 km. This makes it a very popular place in the summer for boat tourists, where you easily can find an island or an inlet for yourself if you are looking for some peace and quiet. The number of people in the county are at least doubled in the summer, due to all the people on vacation. There are approximately 1700 summer cottages ("hytter") around the fjord. Tvedestrand has over 2000 buildings that are more than 100 years old.
Around 1600 Tvedestrand was mainly a harbour for the Berge and Tveite farms's boats, herby the name Tvedestrand (strand means beach or coast in Norwegian). The town as we now know was built in the 19th century as a harbour for Norways longest existing iron works, Næs jernverk.
Places in Tvedestrand municipality:
| Municipalities of Aust-Agder | 
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Arendal | Birkenes | Bygland | Bykle | Evje og Hornnes | Froland | Gjerstad | Grimstad | Iveland | Lillesand | Risør | Tvedestrand | Valle | Vegårshei | Åmli | |