NorwayCounty number 40
Telemark is a county in Norway with 17 municipalities. Telemark extends from the coast and Grenland’s industrial towns to forests, valleys and Hardangervidda. Hydropower, industrial heritage, the Telemark Canal and living traditional culture show how landscape and knowledge shaped the county.
Content updated:
SSB · 2026
See how many people live in the county, how many homes it has, and which municipalities have the most residents. Figures are from Statistics Norway (SSB).
Ranked by municipal population, rather than the size of cities or urban settlements. A municipality may contain several settlements and extensive rural areas.
2026 · SSB
Choose a municipality to open its profile. Small island municipalities are marked with a dot.
Known for
The Telemark Canal and Heddal Stave Church
Skien and Porsgrunn belong to densely settled Grenland, while Kragerø and Bamble have coastline and islands. Inland are forests, lakes and valley communities, with Tinn and Vinje reaching the high mountains around Hardangervidda. Waterways connect these landscapes. County-average density hides very different settlement patterns; the map helps locate municipalities, and their profiles provide evidence for comparing population and services.
Completed in 1892, the Telemark Canal linked Skien, inland communities and Dalen for passengers and goods. Hydropower later made Rjukan and Notodden part of an international fertiliser industry. Their development tells a story of engineering, labour and new industrial towns. Telemark merged with Vestfold in 2020 and became a separate county again on 1 January 2024.
Rjukan–Notodden Industrial Heritage entered UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2015. Power stations, factories, transport facilities and company towns show how hydropower enabled early artificial-fertiliser production.
Grenland has process industries and technology businesses producing chemicals, metals and other industrial goods. Western Telemark combines hydropower, forestry and tourism, while Bø connects education with services and local businesses. Their skills needs differ. Transition involves emissions and resource efficiency in existing businesses; identified mineral resources and proposed projects do not automatically represent established jobs.
Farte provides information about buses and demand-responsive transport in Telemark. Grenland has different travel patterns from mountain communities, where distance and departure frequency matter more. The Telemark Canal demonstrates an older transport system connecting inland areas with the coast and now also serving visitors. Historic routes are not necessarily year-round everyday connections; check the journey you need.
USN has campuses in Bø, Notodden, Porsgrunn and Rauland. Campus Rauland in Vinje connects folk music, folk dance and traditional arts with higher education. Rjukan–Notodden World Heritage explains the relationship between natural resources, science and community building. Folk music, dance and storytelling offer another layer of knowledge, especially in western Telemark. Heritage includes both new industrial ways of life and traditions passed between generations. Municipality profiles connect education and cultural places with local communities.
Telemark contains industrial towns, coastal communities, study centres and dispersed mountain settlement. Employment, housing needs and service distances differ between them. Holiday homes and seasonal tourism create demands beyond permanent residence. Compare municipal population and trends using matching reference years; Skien or Vinje figures represent the whole municipality, not just a centre or well-known destination.
Sirkulære Telemark 2030 brings businesses and public support agencies together around resource efficiency. Telemarksporteføljen identifies collaborative projects; feasibility-study support in 2026 aims to move ideas towards implementation.
Landscapes, heritage sites and buildings offer a concrete view of the county’s history. Continue to the guides to these places and their municipalities.
Bø gamle kyrkje preserves a medieval stone church beside its nineteenth-century successor in Midt-Telemark. The small building retains its original nave, chancel and rounded eastern end, offering a particularly clear view of Romanesque church architecture.
Den gamle toldbod is the former customs house within Porsgrunn's local museum setting. Its present cultural role links the town's maritime past with the porcelain industry that became one of Porsgrunn's best-known identities.
Heddal stavkyrkje is Norway's largest surviving stave church, rising from the valley floor near Notodden. Its layered roofs, carved doorways and continuing parish life make it an important place to explore medieval timber architecture and later restoration.
Telemark · 17 municipalities
Find local figures, history, education, housing and public services. Each municipality’s population figure refers to the stated period.
Residents · Q2 2026 · SSB
Norway has three elected levels of government: the state, county authorities and municipalities. A county is both a geographical area and the territory of an elected regional authority.
Responsibilities include upper secondary education, county roads, public transport, public dental services and regional development. These tasks connect municipalities.
Local responsibilities include primary and lower secondary schools, kindergartens, health and care services and land-use planning. Kommuneportal explains these at municipal level.
The County Governor represents the state regionally. This is a separate institution from the elected county authority. Oslo has both municipal and county responsibilities.
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Registry date: · Content updated:
A county total is shown only when every municipality has comparable figures from the same source and period. Land area excludes freshwater and sea. Density uses population and land area from the same year.
The same municipality membership is used; changes across a documented geographical break are withheld.
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Creation and publication dates are not documented.
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