Arendal (Urban East Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɑ̂ːɳɖɑːɫ] ⓘ) is a city in Agder county, Norway.

The city is the administrative centre of the municipality of Arendal and the seat of the County Governor of Agder.

When the town of Christianssand was founded by King Christian IV in 1641, he granted those citizens a monopoly on all trade in Nedenæs and Lister og Mandal counties (including the area of Arendal).

This grant, intended to subsidise Christianssand and its fortifications, placed existing towns and ports in those counties in a difficult position.

[citation needed] This continued until 1735, when some laws were changed and that, combined with the Danish imposition of a monopoly on grain imports, caused great poverty and starvation among the peasants in the surrounding districts, leading to several famous rebellions.

[citation needed] As a result of the rebellions, the age of privileges for towns like Christianssand and Arendal came to an apparent end in 1768 by royal proclamation.

Shipping, shipbuilding, and timber trade as well as mining and ironworks were important branches of industry in Nedenæs county for many centuries, especially in the Arendal region.

However, this came to an end following the 1886 Arendal crash, in which Axel Nicolai Herlofson had defrauded many bank customers in the city, leading to bankruptcies and extreme unemployment.

In New York City and the surrounding areas, a great deal of Americans who claim Norwegian ancestry can trace their roots to Arendal, as a great deal of Norwegian sailors, trimmers, shipbuilders and carpenters from Arendal settled in areas of New York such as Brooklyn, Port Richmond (Staten Island), and several industrial centres in northern New Jersey such as Jersey City, Bayonne, Perth Amboy, and Elizabeth.