Bamble

Bamble is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Langesund. Other population centres in Bamble include the town of Stathelle and the villages of Bamble, Botten, Herre, and Valle.

The 304 km2 municipality is the 263rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bamble is the 87th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 14,172. The municipality's population density is 50.2 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 0.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The parish of Bamble was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1878, the island of Langøya (population: 22), just off shore from the town of Langesund, was transferred from the rural municipality of Bamble to the town of Langesund. In 1949, the town of Langesund was again enlarged by annexing an adjacent area of Bamble municipality (population: 127). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the town of Stathelle (population: 724) and the town of Langesund (population: 2,281) were both merged with the surrounding rural municipality of Bamble (population: 5,237) to form a new, larger Bamble Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bamle farm (Bamblar). The meaning of the name is unknown. It is possible that the name is the plural form derived from the word bembel which means "belly". In this case, it was likely referring to a round hill or mountain. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Bamle. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Bamble.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 12 December 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a ship's wheel Or" (I blått et gull skipsratt). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a ship's wheel. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms are nearly identical to the former arms of the town Stathelle which used them from 1954 until 1964 when it became part of Bamble. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea for this coastal municipality. Sailing and fishing have always been of great importance for the area, and a ship's wheel was thus an appropriate symbol. The arms were designed by Svein J. Haugholt. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Bamble. It is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Bamble Church (Bamble kirke) is located along the European route E18 highway, about 5 km to the south of the Grenland Bridge. It is a wooden cruciform church which was built in 1845. The church is located next to the ruins of Olav Church which dated to around 1145.

Geography
The municipality is located along the Skaggerak coast in southeastern Norway. The village is located on the west side of the Frierfjorden and Langesundsfjorden and to the northeast of the Fossingfjorden. The southeastern tip of the large lake Toke is located in northwestern Bamble. The European route E18 highway runs through Bamble, crossing into Porsgrunn Municipality via the Grenland Bridge. The Brevik Bridge also crosses the Frierfjorden, a short distance east of the Grenland Bridge. The Langøytangen Lighthouse is located near the town of Langesund.

Geology
Bamble, lying at the southern tip of the Kongsberg-Bamble geological formation, also has a unique geology that has been extensively researched by geologists such as W. C. Brøgger. It exhibits a high grade gneiss terrane characterized by metasomatism. As such there have been many mines operating in the area, most notably the Ødegården Verk apatite mines and the nickel mines in Nystein.

Government
All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bamble is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Bamble (incomplete list):


 * 1919-1921: Herman Løvenskiold (H)
 * 1971-1981: Kjell Bohlin (Ap)
 * 1995-2003: Jan Erik Gyllensten (KrF)
 * 2003-2007: Anne Margrete Blaker (Ap)
 * 2007-2015: Jon Pieter Flølo (FrP)
 * 2015-2023: Hallgeir Kjeldal (Ap)
 * 2023–present: Jon Pieter Flølo (FrP)

Twin towns – sister cities
Bamble is twinned with:
 * 🇮🇸 Akranes, Iceland
 * 🇫🇮 Närpes, Finland
 * Tønder, Denmark
 * 🇸🇪 Västervik, Sweden

Notable people

 * Marcus Olaus Bockman (1849 in Langesund – 1942), a Norwegian-American Lutheran theologian in Minnesota
 * Marie Høeg (1866 in Langesund – 1949), a photographer and suffragist
 * William Houlder Zachariasen (1906 in Langesund – 1979), a Norwegian-American physicist, pioneering specialist in X-ray crystallography and the structure of glass in Chicago
 * Arne Selberg (1910 in Langesund – 1989), a civil engineer who designed suspension bridges
 * Sigmund Selberg (1910–1994), a mathematician who worked on the distribution of prime numbers
 * Atle Selberg (1917 in Langesund – 2007), a mathematician who worked on analytic number theory
 * Kjell Bohlin (1928–2011), a politician and Mayor of Bamble from 1971 to 1981
 * Turid Thomassen (born 1965 in Stathelle), the leader of the Norwegian Red party 2010 to 2012
 * Sverre Gjørvad (born 1966 in Stathelle), a jazz musician (drums) and composer
 * Odd Ivar Solvold (born 1969 in Bamble), a chef, restaurateur, and author of cook books
 * Jørn Lier Horst (born 1970 in Bamble), an author of crime fiction and former Police officer
 * Kenneth Nilsen (born 1994 in Bamble), a music producer who uses the stage name K-391

Sport

 * Thor Thorvaldsen (1909 in Bamble – 1987), a sailor and two-time Olympic champion
 * Jan Halvor Halvorsen (born 1963 in Bamble), a former footballer with 250 club caps and 5 for Norway
 * Ella Gjømle Berg (born 1979 in Stathelle), a cross-country skier