Mandal is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.
The town of Mandal was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Halse og Harkmark and Holum were merged with Mandal January 1, 1964.
Mandal borders in west and northwest with Lindesnes, in north with Marnardal and to the east with Søgne.
It is the southernmost town of Norway – and the skerry Pysen (south of the town) is the southernmost point of land.
The name
The Norse form of the name was Marnardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the rivername Mörn (now Mandalselva), the last element is dalr m ‚valley, dale‘.
The old name of the town (until 1653) was Vesterrisør (‚western Risør‘). The name was originally referring to the island Risøya outside the town, and the first element was added in the 16th century to distinguish it from the town of Østerrisør.