Farsund Airport, Lista is located here, but it has not had any regularly scheduled commercial flights since 1999; however, there are discussions to use it as a base for offshore operations.

Lista is located on a large peninsula along the Listafjorden and is home to the villages of Vestbygd and Vanse and the town of Farsund.

During the 1960s, there were many major municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.

It is possible that the first element is derived from the plural of vanr which means "Vanir", a group of Old Norse gods.

From 1662 until 1919, Vest-Agder county was named "Lister og Mandals amt", signifying the significance of the area.