Oslofjord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Oslofjord (Norwegian: Oslofjorden) is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses near Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north. The bay is divided into the inner (indre) and outer (ytre) Oslofjord at the point of the 17 km long and narrow Drøbaksundet. The entire population situated around the Oslofjord including Oslo is about 1.7 million, and the total population of all the counties situated around the fjord is approxiametely 2 million.
In spite of its name, the Oslofjord is not, geologically speaking, a fjord. In historical times, it was known by the current name of the region, Viken (the bay); it is unclear when (and for what reason) the body of water acquired its current name.
Norwegian painter Edvard Munch had a cottage and studio in Åsgårdstrand on the fjord and it appears in several of his paintings, including The Scream and Girls on the Pier.
The fjord was the scene of a key event in the German invasion of Norway in 1940. The invasion included a planned landing of 1,000 troops transported by ship to Oslo. Colonel Eriksen, Commander of the Oscarsborg fortress near Drøbak, mainly maintained for historical purposes, sank the German heavy cruiser Blücher in the Drøbak narrows.
The fortress's resistance blocked the route to Oslo, thus delaying the rest of the group long enough for the royal family, the government and parliament to be evacuated, as well as the national treasury. The result was that Norway never surrendered to the Germans, leaving the Quisling government illegitimate and permitting Norway to participate as an ally in the war, rather than as a conquered nation.
The Oslofjord is one of the nine venues of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.
