Editing Vestfold (section)

==History==
===Viking history===
[[File:Gokstadskipet1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Norway's largest preserved [[Viking]] ship, ''[[Gokstad ship]]'', was discovered at [[Gokstad Mound]], [[Sandefjord]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aftenposten.no/article/ap-7K2r8.html|title=Fant 1000 år gammel fot|first=Hedda|last=Sødal|website=Aftenposten|date=24 September 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/best-bank-note-of-the-year-2017-2018-4|title=Sharks, otters, and a man playing rugby: These are the 6 most beautiful banknotes in the world right now|first=Will|last=Martin|website=Business Insider|access-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704012851/https://www.businessinsider.com/best-bank-note-of-the-year-2017-2018-4|archive-date=4 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Istre Hågan.jpg|thumb|[[Istrehågan]], ancient burial ground which dates to the [[Roman Iron Age (Northern Europe)|Roman Iron Age]], 1500-500 BC<ref name="visitvestfold.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitvestfold.com/en/larvik/product/?TLp=200315|title=Rock carvings and standing stones at Haugen Farm|website=www.visitvestfold.com}}</ref>]]
{{Historical populations
|footnote = '''Source''': [http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/02/folkendrhist_en/tables/tab/07.html Statistics Norway].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=folkfram|title=Projected population - Statistics Norway|access-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023110552/http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=folkfram|archive-date=23 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|shading = off
|1951|154670
|1961|174382
|1971|175402
|1981|186691
|1991|198354
|2001|215030
|2011|233705
|2021?|262777
|2031?|287496
}}
''Vestfold'' is mentioned for the first time in a written source in 813, when Danish kings were in Vestfold to quell an uprising amongst the [[Fürst]]s {{vague|date=October 2020}}.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Bjørn Brandlien |title=Var Vestfold Norges vugge? |publisher=Klassekampen |date=5 October 2015 |page=10}}</ref> There may have been as many as six political centers in Vestfold. At that time Kaupang, which was located in [[Tjølling]] near Larvik, had been functioning for decades and had a chieftain. [[Kaupang]], which dates from the [[Viking Age]], is believed to be the first town in Norway, although [[Tønsberg]] (which dates from ca. 900) is the oldest town in Norway still in existence. At [[Borre, Norway|Borre]], there was a site for another chieftain. That site held chieftains for more than one hundred years prior to 813.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/eastern-norway/tonsberg/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522125130/http://www.visitnorway.com/us/Product/?pid=30178|url-status=dead|title=Tønsberg - the oldest town in Norway|archive-date=22 May 2014|website=www.visitnorway.com}}</ref>

The stone mounds at [[Mølen]] have been dated to the [[Viking Age]].<ref name="Var Vestfold Norges vugge">{{cite news |author1=Bjørn Brandlien |title=Var Vestfold Norges vugge? |publisher=Klassekampen |date=5 October 2015 |page=11}}</ref> The mounds at [[:no:Haugar (Tønsberg)|Haugar]] in present-day [[Tønsberg]]'s town centre have been dated to the Viking period. At [[Bjørn Farmann|Farmannshaugen]] in [[Sem Municipality|Sem]] there seems to have been activity at the time, while activity at [[Oseberg Ship|Oseberghaugen]] and [[Gokstadhaugen]] dates from a few decades later.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

An English source from around 890 retells the voyage of [[Ottar from Hålogaland|Ottar]] (''Ottar fra Hålogaland'') "from the farthest North, along ''Norvegr'' via Kaupang and [[Hedeby]] to England", where Ottar places Kaupang in the land of the [[Danes|Dane]] - ''danenes land''.<ref name="Var Vestfold Norges vugge" /> Bjørn Brandlien says that "To the degree that [[Harald Hårfagre]] gathered a kingdom after the [[Battle of Hafrsfjord]] at the end of the 9th century - that especially is connected to [[Avaldsnes]] - it does not seem to have made such a great impression on Ottar".<ref name="Var Vestfold Norges vugge" />
Kaupang is mentioned under the name of [[:no:Kaupangen i Skiringssal|Skiringssal]] (''Kaupangen i Skiringssal'') in Ottar's tales.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.travels-in-time.net/norway09arteng.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708182159/http://www.travels-in-time.net/e/norway09arteng.htm|url-status=dead|title=Vestvågøy Theme 9 of Travels in Time|archive-date=8 July 2015|website=www.travels-in-time.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Ottar |title=Ottar |publisher=Norsk biografisk leksikon |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208100628/https://nbl.snl.no/Ottar |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the 10th century, the local kings had established themselves. The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at ''Sæheim i Sem'', today the [[:no:Jarlsberg Hovedgård|Jarlsberg Estate]] (''Jarlsberg Hovedgård'') in [[Tønsberg]].  The farm [[:no:Haugar (Tønsberg)|Haugar]] (from [[Old Norse]] ''haugr'' meaning hill or mound) became the seat for [[Haugating]], the [[Thing (assembly)|Thing]] for Vestfold and one of Norway's most important place for the proclamation of kings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snl.no/Jarlsberg |title=Jarlsberg |publisher=[[Great Norwegian Encyclopedia]] |author=Terje Bratberg |access-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208101720/https://snl.no/Jarlsberg |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snl.no/Haugar%2FT%C3%B8nsberg |title=Haugar – Tønsberg |publisher=[[Great Norwegian Encyclopedia]] |author=Geir Thorsnæs |access-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208110207/https://snl.no/Haugar%2FT%C3%B8nsberg |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The family of [[Harald I of Norway|Harald Fairhair]], who was most likely the first king of Norway, is said to have come from this area.

The Danish kings seem to have been weak in Vestfold from around the middle of the 9th century until the middle of the 10th century, but their rule was strengthened there at the end of the 10th century.<ref name="Var Vestfold Norges vugge" /> The Danish kings seem to have tried to control the region until the 13th century.<ref name="Var Vestfold Norges vugge" />

====Kings ruling some or all of Vestfold====
[[File:Halvdan Svartes saga-Tittelfrise-Gerhard Munthe.jpg|upright=1.25|thumb|[[Halfdan the Black]], 9th century king of Vestfold. His brother was long believed to be buried at the [[Gokstad Mound]].<ref name="Børresen, Svein E. 2004 Page 46">Børresen, Svein E. (2004). ''Vestfoldboka: en reise i kultur og natur''. Skagerrak forl. Page 46. {{ISBN|9788292284070}}.</ref><ref>Tore, Sandberg and Cato Arveschoug (2001). ''Sandefjord zoomet inn av fotograf Tore Sandberg''. C. Arveschoug and Magne Helland. Page 40. ISBN 9788299616706.</ref><ref>Tollnes, Ivar and Olaf Akselsen (1994). ''Sandefjord: Den lille storbyen''. [[Sandefjords Blad]]. Page 103. ISBN 9788299070447.</ref>]]
* Erik Agnarsson
* [[Halfdan Hvitbeinn]] (part of Vestfold)
* [[Eystein Halfdansson]]
* [[Halfdan the Mild]]
* [[Gudrød the Hunter]]
* [[Halfdan the Black]], together with his brother, [[Olaf Gudrødsson]]
* [[Ragnvald the Mountain-High]], Cousin of Harold Fairhair
* [[Harald Fairhair]]
* [[Bjørn Farmann]]
* [[Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf]], brother of Bjørn
* [[Harald Gudrødsson Grenske]], 976–987

===Whaling===
[[File:Sandefjord Southern Actor.jpg|thumb|''[[Southern Actor]]'', whale-catcher turned [[museum ship]]]]
[[Whaling]] was an important 19th century industry in coastal cities such as [[Larvik]], [[Tønsberg]], and [[Sandefjord]], which was the world centre for the world's modern whaling industry. Not only did men from Vestfold County make up practically all the crew on the Norwegian whaling fleet, but many were also involved in the whaling industry in other nations.<ref name="Tønnessen 1982 Page 25">Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). ''The History of Modern Whaling''. University of California Press. Page 25. {{ISBN|9780520039735}}.</ref> As an example, the first phase of modern Australian whaling was almost entirely based on workers from Larvik.<ref>Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). ''The History of Modern Whaling''. University of California Press. Page 222. {{ISBN|9780520039735}}.</ref> While the first whaling station in the [[Faroe Islands]] was established by Sandefjordians,<ref>Joensen, Jóan Pauli (2009). ''Pilot Whaling in the Faroe Islands: History, Ethnography, Symbol''. Faroe University Press. Page 225. {{ISBN|9789991865256}}.</ref> Larvik played a similar role for the [[Shetland Islands]]. Tønsberg initiated much of the whaling industry in [[Iceland]] and the [[Hebrides]].<ref>Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). ''The History of Modern Whaling''. University of California Press. Page 84. {{ISBN|9780520039735}}.</ref>

The largest settlement in [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]], ''[[Grytviken]]'', was established by [[Carl Anton Larsen]] of Sandefjord on 16 November 1904.<ref>Headland, Robert (1992). ''The Island of South Georgia''. CUP Archive. Page 130. {{ISBN|9780521424745}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hvalfangstmuseet.no/en/the-beginnings/ |title=The Beginnings – Hvalfangstmuseet |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142228/http://www.hvalfangstmuseet.no/en/the-beginnings/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sandefjordian [[Nils Larsen]]'s expeditions to [[Antarctica]] in the early 20th century led to the Norwegian annexation of [[Bouvet Island]] (1927) and [[Peter I Island]] (1929). A cove on Peter I Island is named [[Sandefjord Cove]] in honor of Nils Larsen's hometown.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.polarhistorie.no/hendelser/1209014058.72|title=Andre "Norvegia"- ekspedisjon med kaptein Nils Larsen og dr. Ole Olstad besøkte Bouvetøya og gjennomførte den første landingen på Peter I Øy 2. februar 1929. Øya ble annektert for Norge, offisielt anerkjent ved kgl. res. 1. mai 1931. -|website=www.polarhistorie.no|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208095027/http://www.polarhistorie.no/hendelser/1209014058.72|archive-date=8 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.polarhistorie.no/personer/Christensen%2C%20Lars|title=Lars Christensen -|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221205559/http://www.polarhistorie.no/personer/Christensen,%20Lars|archive-date=21 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sandefjord Harbor is now home to ''[[Southern Actor]]'', the only whale-catcher from the Modern Whaling Epoch still to be in its original order.<ref name="https://snl.no/Sandefjord">{{Cite web|url=http://snl.no/Sandefjord|title=Sandefjord|first=Sten|last=Lundbo|date=26 April 2019|via=[[Great Norwegian Encyclopedia]]|access-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511092454/https://snl.no/Sandefjord|archive-date=11 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitvestfold.com/en/sandefjord/product/?TLp=3495|title=The Whale catcher Southern Actor|website=www.visitvestfold.com}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/the-whale-catcher-southern-actor/13/|title=The Whale catcher Southern Actor|website=www.visitnorway.com|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143535/https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/the-whale-catcher-southern-actor/13/|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The museum ship is owned by [[Sandefjord Museum|Sandefjord Whaling Museum]], Europe's only museum dedicated to whaling.<ref name="Philpott, Don 1991 Page 76">Philpott, Don (1991). ''Visitor's Guide: Norway''. Moorland. Page 76. {{ISBN|9780861904242}}.</ref><ref name="The Whaling Museum">{{cite web |url=https://www.visitvestfold.com/en/sandefjord/see-and-do/attractions/?TLp=3492&The-Whaling-Museum |title=The Whaling Museum |website=Visitvestfold.com |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209100321/https://www.visitvestfold.com/en/sandefjord/see-and-do/attractions/?TLp=3492&The-Whaling-Museum |archive-date=9 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hvalfangstmuseet">{{cite web |url=http://www.hvalfangstmuseet.no/en/ |title=Hvalfangstmuseet |website=Hvalfangstmuseet.no |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126214958/http://www.hvalfangstmuseet.no/en/ |archive-date=26 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sandefjord has been named the centre of the [[History of whaling#Modern whaling|Modern Whaling Epoch]],<ref>Holskjær, Lars (2017). ''Kamper uten tall''. Forlagshuset i Vestfold. Page 8. {{ISBN|9788293407294}}.</ref> and has been nicknamed "the whaling capital of the world."<ref>Engel, Lyle Kenyon (1963). ''Scandinavia: A Simon & Schuster Travel Guide''. Cornerstone Library. Page 145.</ref><ref>Ryder, Simon and Cameron Duffy (2018). ''Insight Guides Norway''. Insight Guides. Page 163. {{ISBN|978-1786717580}}.</ref><ref>Alspaugh, Emmanuelle (2006). ''Fodor's Norway''. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 73. {{ISBN|9781400016143}}.</ref><ref>Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1985). ''Sandefjord: A modern city with vast potential''. Grafisk Studio. Page 81. {{ISBN|82-90636-00-8}}.</ref>