Kristiansand

Kristiansand Municipality Kristiansand kommune
City and municipality
Descending, from top: Area photo of Kvadraturen, Street at Kvadraturen, Fiskebrygga, Bystranda, Flekkerøy, Varoddbrua E18
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname:  Port of Norway
Kristiansand Municipality Location in Norway
Coordinates: 58°8′50″N 7°59′50″E / 58.14722°N 7.99722°E / 58.14722; 7.99722
Country	Norway
Municipality	Kristiansand
County	Agder
District	Kristiansandregionen
Established	1641
Government
• Mayor	Mathias Bernander (Ap)
Area
• City and municipality	428.21 km2 (165.33 sq mi)
• Urban	25.03 km2 (9.66 sq mi)
• Metro	1,892.8 km2 (730.8 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2022)
• City and municipality	115,569
• Urban	125,000
• Urban density	5,000/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
• Metro	155,648
• Metro density	82/km2 (210/sq mi)
• Municipality/Urban rank	6th/8th
• Metro rank	5th
Demonym(s)	Kristiansander,[a] Kristiansandar[b][1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Website	www.kristiansand.kommune.no

Kristiansand is a city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation of the municipalities of Søgne and Songdalen into the greater Kristiansand municipality.^[2] In addition to the city itself, Statistics Norway count four other densely populated areas in the municipality: Skålevik in Flekkerøy with a population of 3,526 in the Vågsbygd borough, Strai with a population of 1,636 in the Grim borough, Justvik with a population of 1,803 in the Lund borough,^[3] and Tveit with a population of 1,396 (as of January 2012^[update]) in the Oddernes borough. Kristiansand is divided into five boroughs; -Grim, which is located northwest in Kristiansand with a population of 15,000; Kvadraturen, which is the centre and downtown Kristiansand with a population of 5,200; Lund, the second largest borough; Søgne, with a population of around 12,000 and incorporated into the municipality of Kristiansand as of January 2020; Oddernes, a borough located in the west; and Vågsbygd, the largest borough with a population of 36,000, located in the southwest.

Kristiansand is connected by four main roads: European Route E18 from Oslo, Aust-Agder, covering the easternmost parts of Kristiansand; European route E39 from Stavanger, Flekkefjord and the coastal towns and villages in Vest-Agder; Norwegian National Road 9 from Evje, Setesdal and Grim; and Norwegian National Road 41 from Telemark, northern Aust-Agder, Birkeland, Tveit and the airport Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. Varodd Bridge is a large bridge and a part of E18, which stretches over Topdalsfjorden.

Tourism is important in Kristiansand, and the summer season is the most popular for tourists. Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement park is the largest zoo in Norway. It receives over 900,000 visitors every year. Markens Street is the main pedestrian street in downtown Kristiansand. Bystranda is a city beach located in Kvadraturen; Hamresanden beach is the longest beach in Kristiansand. Hamresanden Camping is a popular family camp during the summer season. The city hosts a free weekly concert in downtown Kristiansand in the summertime. Outside the city is the industrial park Sørlandsparken, which includes Sørlandssenteret, Norway's largest mall.

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