Editing Vest-Agder (section)

==History==
{{stack|{{Historical populations
|footnote = '''''Source''': [http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/02/folkendrhist_en/tables/tab/10.html Statistics Norway].''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable%2FhovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=folkfram |title=Projected population - Statistics Norway |access-date=2012-05-26 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526193657/http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=folkfram |archive-date=2012-05-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|shading = off
|1951|96942
|1961|109083
|1971|124171
|1981|136718
|1991|145091
|2001|156878
|2011|172408
}}}}
{{bar box
|title=Religion in Vest-Agder<ref>[https://archive.today/20120716151336/http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=kirke_kostra Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.]</ref><ref>[http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/07/02/10/trosamf_en/tab-2010-12-13-02-en.html Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102060754/http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/07/02/10/trosamf_en/tab-2010-12-13-02-en.html |date=November 2, 2011 }}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=religion
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Christianity]]|Purple|85.66}}
{{bar percent|[[Islam]]|Green|1.29}}
{{bar percent|[[Buddhism]]|Red|0.33}}
{{bar percent|Other|Blue|12.72}}
}}

The oldest ever remains of an 8,000+ year old human in Norway has been found at [[Søgne]], she endured an almost exclusively marine diet. In Kristiansand, a ''Sarup''-style [[Neolithic]] funeral site from 3,400 BC has been excavated. Just before and after the onset of the [[common era]], the region was uniquely rich in sites dedicated to the God Ull (Ullr), and also had a semi-urban settlement at Oddernes (Kristiansand). Norway's first possible all-national king, [[Halvdan Svarte]], was raised probably in the [[Kvinesdal]] valley at a matrimonial manor, his mother was presumably the daughter of King Harald of Agder. He was followed  by his son King [[Harald Fairhair]], who had his easternmost manor at Kongsgård near Kristiansand. Churches are known since Viking ages. Vest-Agder was not particularly preeminent in the later Viking and Medieval Ages. [[Mandal, Norway|Mandal]] (Vesterrisør) and Kristiansand (Ottrunes) had semi-urban trading centers from the 1300s onwards, but did not enjoy urban economic privileges until the 1632 (Mandal) and 1641 (Kristiansand). A general lack of agricultural fertility made the region remaining a relatively poor part of Norway through the centuries.

In the 16th century, [[Dutch people|Dutch]] [[merchant vessel]]s began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase [[salmon]] and other goods.  Soon thereafter the export of [[Lumber|timber]] began, as [[oak]] from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for [[shipbuilding]].  As the [[Netherlands]] developed in the 17th century, it began to suffer from a severe labor shortage, and many families from Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder emigrated to the Netherlands, especially the coastal areas.

In the 19th century, emigration to the [[United States]] started.  One of the most important causes of this emigration was the emergence of [[steamboat|steamship]]s.  While Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder historically had very strong positions in the manufacture and repair of [[sailing ship]]s, the shift to steamships was poorly utilised and resulted in a cyclical slope for the shipbuilding and shipping industries. Emigration to the United States was a means of escaping from the high unemployment that followed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vest-Agder genealogy resources|url=http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/vest_agder.html|last=Follesdal|first=John|publisher=[[Ancestry.com]]|access-date=2009-12-15}}</ref>
Many [[United States|Americans]] returning to the county after [[Norway]] became prosperous. This feature is particularly predominant in [[Kvinesdal]] and [[Farsund]] in the west, which maintains strong cultural links with the [[United States]].

During [[World War II]] the area had substantial fortifications and German personnel, with major bases and airfields in Lista, Mandal and Kristiansand. [[Batterie Vara]] near Kristiansand was constructed as one out of two 40&nbsp;cm coastal artillery forts covering the Skagerrak Sea in conjunction with a similar fort in northern Denmark. After the war, Kristiansand grew considerably whereas other cities lost much of their relative economic and demographic importance.