Ås, Norway

Ås is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. The parish of Aas was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

Ås kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Viken within
Norway
Ås within Viken
Coordinates: 59°39′37″N 10°47′1″E
CountryNorway
CountyViken
DistrictFollo
Administrative centreÅs
Area
 • Total103 km2 (40 sq mi)
 • Land101.3 km2 (39.1 sq mi)
Area rank383 in Norway
Population
 (2020)
 • Total20,652
 • Density156.6/km2 (406/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
17.5%
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3021
Official language formNeutral[1]
Websitewww.as.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Ås is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Akershus, with a population of 20,652 in 2020, and an increase of 539 in 2008.[2] Ås is the largest agricultural municipality of Akershus, and home to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the amusement park Tusenfryd.

In February/March 2020, a few incidents of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in Ås municipality and some inhabitants infected with the virus were placed in quarantine.[3]

General information

Etymology

The parish was named after the old Ås (Norse Áss) farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word áss meaning "hill", "ridge" or "esker" (height in moraine landscape). Prior to 1921, the name was spelled Aas.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 23 July 1982. The three silver diamonds are a symbol for the many archaeological findings in the area. The diamond (rhombus) shape was taken as it resembled many of the axes found in the area (Nøstvet ax). The silver colour resembles the flint, which the tools were made of. The number of three diamonds was chosen to represent the three parishes in the municipality: Ås, Kroer and Nordby.[4][5]

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Ås by country of origin in 2017[6]
Ancestry Number
 Poland521
 Sweden244
 Lithuania214
 Ethiopia173
 Germany161
 Pakistan136
 Iran134
 Denmark132
 Iraq122
 Kosovo120

Economy

The most important source of income is agriculture. Ås is the largest agricultural municipality of Akershus: providing the region with grain, vegetables, and dairy products. Of the 101 square kilometres (39.0 sq mi) of land in the municipality, about 39 square kilometres (15.1 sq mi) are farmed and about 46 square kilometres (17.8 sq mi) are forested.[4]

The park at NMBU

The park at Norwegian University of Life Sciences is one of the largest and most completed neoclassical parka facilities in Norway. The park today appears as a result of the docent Olav L. Moen's plans from around 1924. The park is located at highway 152 towards Drøbak, about 1 kilometre west of Ås town centre. The entire park area is about 600 acres and is used for recreation and teaching. The park contains 800 different types of shrubs and trees, a teaching field with just over 200 perennial species and a rosarium founded in 1965. The plant species are collected family and family. Most of the plants are labelled so that it is possible for plant enthusiasts to orient themselves in the plant collection. The park is an integral part of NMBU.

Leonardo da Vinci Bridge
Leonardo da Vinci Bridge in Ås (Åsmund Ødegård)

In Nygårdskrysset in Ås municipality over The European route E18 lies the 108-metre-long Leonardo Da Vinci project which is a project by the painter and artist Vebjørn Sandas part of his Da Vinci project. Vebjørn Sand saw the drawings of the bridge for the first time in 1985. Later in 1995 he saw a model of the bridge on display in Stockholm, and got the idea to build the bridge in full size.

The bridge was opened in October 2001. The bridge has received solid media coverage in Norway and in the rest of the world. In the United States, the bridge has been featured in CNN, Washington Post, The New York Times and Time Magazine. Leonardo da Vinci presented a miniature model of the bridge in 1502 that was originally designed by the Turkish sultan Bayezid_II and intended to cross the Golden Horn at the Bosporos-Strait. The bridge was originally supposed to be 240 metres long.

Transportation

Ås Station is a train station served by the line 550 of the Oslo Commuter Rail, operated by the Vy. Two of Norway's largest highways, European route E6 and European route E18, run through the municipality, and many of the inhabitants commute to Oslo.

Ås Station opened on 2 January 1879 (pictured in August 2007)

A 240-metre-long (787.4 ft) bridge, which is a smaller-scale recreation of a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci proposed in 1502 for the crossing of the Golden Horn, is located in the municipality. It was created by Norwegian painter and artist Vebjørn Sand as part of his Da Vinci project. The bridge serves as a pedestrian crossing over European route E18.

Population

As of 1 January 2020, Ås municipality covers 101.3 square kilometres (39 sq mi) and has 20,652 inhabitants.[2] In 2007, the Ås urban area had a population of 8,095.[7] The municipality also contains one additional urban area, Togrenda, with a population of 2,783. Also, 1,566 inhabitants live in the Ski urban area.

Notable residents

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Ås:[8]

References
  1. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  2. "Statistics Norway: Figures on Ås Municipality". Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  3. https://www.aasavis.no/nyheter/sykdom/helse/fire-personer-as-viser-symptomer-pa-smitte-skal-ha-vart-i-kontakt-med-koronarammet-avdeling-pa-ullevaal-sykehus/s/5-2-423533
  4. "Fakta om Ås kommune" (in Norwegian). Ås kommune. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  5. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  6. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  7. "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality". Statistics Norway. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  8. "Nyttige lenker i Ås". Ås kommune. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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