The Kingdom of Norway (Norge in Norwegian) is one of the world's most maritime nations. The country is long and narrow with drowned valleys called fjords that bring the sea far inland in most regions. The mainland coast is estimated to be 2650 km (1650 mi) long and when all the islands and minor indentations are counted the total coastline approaches an astonishing 60,000 km (37,500 mi), long enough the go around the world one and a half times. With such a lengthy and rocky shore it's not surprising that Norway has a large number of lighthouses. Norway is divided into counties (fylker) and the counties are divided into townships (kommuner). In 2020 mergers decreed by the national government reduced the number of counties from 19 to 11. This page lists lighthouses of the former county of Vest-Agder, at the southern tip of Norway facing the entrance to the Skaggerak from the North Sea. Kristiansand, in the southeastern corner of the county, is the principal port. On 1 January 2020 the counties of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder were combined to form Agder county. In Norwegian a lighthouse is a fyrtårn (fire tower) or simply a fyr; a fyrlykt is a beacon and a lyktehus is a lantern. Øy is an island, holmen is an islet, skjær is a skerry (a tiny island or rocky reef), sund is a strait (often between an island and the mainland), bukt is a bay, nes is a headland, and havn is a harbor. Aids to navigation in Norway are maintained by the Kystverket (Coast Directorate), an agency of the Ministry of Transport. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. NF numbers are from the Norsk Fyrliste. Admiralty numbers are from volume B of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 115.
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Old and new Songvår Lights, Søgne, June 2014 ex-Panoramio photo copyright olavfin; used by permission |
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Lindesnes Light, Lindesnes, November 2019 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Schwarzwert Naturfotografie |
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Lista Light, Farsund, August 2007 ex-Flickr Creative Commons photo by Stefano Sassu |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: Aust-Agder (Arendal Area) | West: Southern Rogaland (Eigersund Area)
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted May 15, 2006. Checked and revised March 29, 2023. Lighthouses: 44. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.