Etnedal

Etnedal is a municipality in Innlandet (formerly Oppland) [3] county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bruflat.

Bruflat church
Etnedal kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Innlandet within
Norway
Etnedal within Innlandet
Coordinates: 60°58′2″N 9°39′13″E
CountryNorway
CountyInnlandet
DistrictValdres
Administrative centreBruflat
Government
 • Mayor (2003)Jan Arild Berg (Sp)
Area
 • Total459 km2 (177 sq mi)
 • Land443 km2 (171 sq mi)
Area rank220 in Norway
Population
 (2004)
 • Total1,410
 • Rank378 in Norway
 • Density3/km2 (8/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
−6.7%
Demonym(s)Etnedøl[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3450
Official language formNeutral[2]
Websitewww.etnedal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Etnedal was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1894 after the merger of the areas Nordre Etnedal (from Nord-Aurdal municipality) and Bruflat (from Sør-Aurdal municipality).

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Etnardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Etna (Old Norse: Etn) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is unknown but it is possibly derived from etja (meaning "push forward") or eta (meaning "eat").

Coat-of-arms
Lunde bridge - the inspiration for the municipal arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted by royal decree on 14 July 1989. The arms show the old Lunde bridge (Lundebru) in gold on a blue background. It is one of the best preserved stone bridges in the country and it is now a national monument. It is also Northern Europe's largest dry stone-arch bridge. The bridge was built in 1829 on the Old King's Road to Bergen. A portion of the king's road was refurbished and turned into a footpath in 1992 and is now a natural and cultural walking path.[4][5]

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Etnedal by country of origin in 2017[6]
Ancestry Number
 Syria27
 Eritrea22
 Netherlands18

Geography

Etnedal is bordered on the east by the municipality of Nordre Land, on the south by Sør-Aurdal, and on the west and north by Nord-Aurdal.

Etnedal is part of the traditional district of Valdres in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal. Valdres also includes the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, and Vang.

The river Etna flows through the municipality, then into Nordre Land municipality and then down into Randsfjorden.

Economy

Occupations in the municipality include animal husbandry and logging, but there is also some industry and tourism.

Notable people

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. moderniseringsdepartementet, Kommunal- og (7 July 2017). "Regionreform". Regjeringen.no. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  5. "Kommunevåpenet-bru i blått" (in Norwegian). Etnedal kommune. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  6. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
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