Mandal

Sister cities

• Alytus

History

The area in which today's town of Mandal is located was not developed during the Middle Ages. During the 1300s, a trading post called Vester-Risør grew up along the Skogsfjorden, just west of the present-day town. The town began when King Eric of Pomerania gave the town the right to trade salmon. By the 1500s, Vesterrisør was a bustling port and trading centre, making it one of the oldest in Agder. In 1632, the trading post was given ladested rights, which included special trading privileges. During the mid-1600s, the name of the town was changed to Mandal. In 1921, Mandal was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it full town status under the law. 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 Mandal (population: 5,446) was merged with the neighboring Halse og Harkmark Municipality (population: 3,676) and most of Holum Municipality (population: 1,127) to form a much larger Mandal Municipality. In 2020, Mandal Municipality was merged into Lindesnes Municipality. The town is named after the Mandalen river valley () in which it is located. The first element is the genitive case of the river name which is now called Mandalselva. The meaning of this old river name is uncertain, but it may be derived from the word which means "sea". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". Prior to 1653, the town of Mandal was named Vesterrisør (). The name was originally referring to the island Risøya outside the town, and the first element was added in the 16th century to distinguish it from the town of Østerrisør (meaning "eastern Risør"), which is now simply called Risør.

Most-observed species

• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  4,295
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  4,276
• Great Black-backed Gull

  Larus marinus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,202
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,136
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,720
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,526
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,423
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,298

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2008-01-24
  North Sea
• M 4.4 — 2007-01-28
  28 km S of Vestbygd, Norway
• M 3.1 — 2005-10-28
  61 km SSW of Mandal, Norway
• M 2.9 — 2004-09-28
  67 km SSW of Mandal, Norway