Drammenselva
river in Norway
The Drammenselva (English: Drammen River) is a river in Buskerud county, southeastern Norway.
Location
The Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a drainage basin of about 17,000 square kilometres (6,600 mi2) and a discharge of 300 cubic metres per second (11,000 cu ft/s) per second. Drammen River's total length is 308 kilometres (191 mi), making it the fifth longest river in Norway.
Its 48 km course runs from Tyrifjorden in the north to Drammensfjord in the south, where it cuts through the centre of the city of Drammen. The Drammen River gathers inflow from several streams and rivers. The largest include the Simoa River. The whole drainage system which includes the Drammenselva as the lowest part is known as Drammensvassdraget and is located in the counties of Innlandet and Buskerud.
Development and usage
For centuries the river was used for log driving, transporting timber from the forests in Eiker to the many paper mills and other industry along the river. From the 1850s onwards, many steam-powered sawmills and planing mills were established along the lower section of the river, and products became exports moving through the Port of Drammen. During the 20th century this activity caused the river to be heavily polluted.
The public source identifies “Drammenselva” as river in Norway. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Drammenselva, river and Norway.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Drammenselva”, the useful work is to connect “river in Norway” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q537889. Authority coordinates are 60.011, 10.043. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Drammenselva”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Drammenselva primary sources, Drammenselva archive and Drammenselva research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Drammenselva” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.