Telemark

County of Norway on the south coast; area 15,320 sq km/5,915 sq mi; population (1995 est) 163,200. It is a mountainous region with vast reserves of timber, commercially exploited. The Rjukan waterfall (126 m/413 ft) provides power for chemical works. Skien is the county capital.

Skien is the birthplace of the dramatist Henrik Ibsen; his play Peer Gynt 1867 is set in Telemark. The county is regarded by many as the birthplace of modern skiing: Sondre Norheim, who redesigned the shape of skis and introduced new techniques, was born in Telemark 1825.

During World War II, the Rjukan hydroelectric power station was destroyed by the Allies to prevent Nazi Germany, then occupying Norway, from using its heavy water for the development of an atomic bomb.