Vennesla (village)

Vennesla is the administrative centre of Vennesla municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the upper Torridal valley along the river Otra, about 15 km north of the city of Kristiansand. The village itself extends for about 10 km along both sides of the river. The Norwegian National Road 9 passes through Mosby, about 6 km south of Vennesla. The Sørlandsbanen railway line passes through Vennesla, stopping at Vennesla Station. The lake Venneslafjorden is located on the river Otra (due to a dam on the river) in the northern part of the village of Vennesla.

The village of Vennesla has significant industry, and nearby along the river Otra there are several hydroelectric power plants. The village has considerable government, commercial, and service industries as well as the Vennesla high school which has both general and vocational classes. Vennesla Church is located in the village, serving as the main church for the municipality. The Vennesla Library and Culture House was completed in 2011. The football club of Vennesla is Vindbjart FK, founded in 1896. Vindbjart plays in the Norwegian Second Division at a Moseidmoen stadium in Vennesla.

Statistics Norway includes the 1.32 km2 Mosby area in nearby Kristiansand municipality as part of the whole 7.25 km2 urban area of Vennesla. The whole urban area has a population (2016) of 12,816 which includes 2,307 people who live in Mosby. This gives Vennesla a population density of 1768 PD/km2.

Town status
The "village" of Vennesla has 12,816 residents in 2016 which makes it one of the largest urban areas in the county, and it is much larger than many towns in Southern Norway. There has been political talk of granting town status to Vennesla, but there was little support, so politicians have not pursued the cause.