Heggedal is a part of the Asker municipality in Viken county, Norway. For statistical purposes, it's usually treated as part of the Oslo urban area. In 2000, its population was 3,301 , and the election district named Heggedal had 2,329 registered voters in the 2005 election. It is mainly a residential area, though the area has a railway station, a church, a library, a middle school and a primary school. Geography Heggedal is situated about 6 km south of the main settlement of Asker and the main highway between Oslo and Drammen, the E18. Heggedal lies about 1 km from the western coast of the Oslofjord, but still lies next to water, as there is a lake about 500 m by 150 m long called Gjellumvannet (lit. Gjellum water). The river Skithegga runs down from the nearby hill and into the water, and inland to the west lies Brennåsen, a hill 361 metres above sea level. Heggedal itself lies around 100 metres above sea level, with the railway station quoted at a height of 99.2 metres. Politics Although the municipality of Asker is traditionally a conservative stronghold, with Conservatives having a strong position in the local government, Labour got the most votes in both the 2005 and the 2001 elections. The Progress Party was the second largest party in 2005, recording 22.6% of the votes, while the Conservatives got 19.2%. No other parties had anywhere above 8% in the recent election, though the Socialist Left Party was the fourth-largest party in 2001 with 14.1%. Their decline in 2005 reflected a nationwide trend. Both in 2001 and 2005, the result of the nation and the results in Heggedal were quite similar, although the Conservatives were stronger in Heggedal and the Christian People's Party and the Centre Party were weaker. Infrastructure Heggedal has a post office at the local chain store, Kiwi, and its postal code is 1389. There is also a local library, which was considered shut down in 2002, but a demonstration was staged to prevent this, to which 500 people attended - on the same day that the local newspaper, Asker og Bærums Budstikke, printed that a solution had been found. The local school, Heggedal barneskole, was built in 1906, and expanded several times, most recently in 1960. As of autumn 2005, it has 362 pupils aged from 6 to 13 (first to seventh grade), and does not split