River · Norway
Glomma
Glomma is the longest river of Norway and flows from the mountains towards the south. It passes forests, farms and old sawmill towns. Near Fredrikstad it empties into the Skagerrak.
Picture credit: Jarle Kvam (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Cato Edvardsen (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Glomma?
The river starts here: Lake Aursunden near Røros.
It ends in the Skagerrak near Fredrikstad.
Countries on the river: Norway.
The story behind it
The Glomma gathers its water from cold lakes and bogs in the Norwegian mountains and then travels south through one of the largest forest regions in Europe. For centuries lumberjacks threw felled trunks into the current and let the river carry them to the sawmills; log driving stopped only a few decades ago. Today power stations use the same falling water to make electricity for towns and factories. At Sarpsfossen the river thunders over a wide step of rock, one of the most powerful waterfalls of the country. Salmon and trout swim in the cool pools, and elk often stand in the shallows at dusk. Every spring the melting snow makes the river rise, and in some years the water has climbed into cellars and covered whole fields near Elverum.
Questions children ask
How long is the Glomma?
The river measures about 621 kilometres. That makes it clearly the longest river in Norway. Its water needs several days to travel from the mountains down to the coast.
Which country does the Glomma flow through?
It flows only through Norway, from the area around Røros down to the south-east coast. On the way it touches many districts with forests and farms. No border is crossed at any point.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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