Gausdal

Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru. Follebu is a township and sub-parish in eastern Gausdal.

Gausdal kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Innlandet within
Norway
Gausdal within Innlandet
Coordinates: 61°16′36″N 9°55′21″E
CountryNorway
CountyInnlandet
DistrictGudbrandsdal
Administrative centreSegalstad bru
Government
 • Mayor (2011)Hans Oddvar Høistad (Arbeiderpartiet)
Area
 • Total1,192 km2 (460 sq mi)
 • Land1,149 km2 (444 sq mi)
Area rank84 in Norway
Population
 (2004)
 • Total6,186
 • Rank163 in Norway
 • Density5/km2 (10/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
−2.1%
Demonym(s)Gausdøl[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3441
Official language formNeutral[2]
Websitewww.gausdal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Logging, farming, and tourism are important occupations in the municipality.

General information
Skeikampen mountain – the outline is the inspiration for the municipal arms.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Gausdalr. The first element is the river name Gausa and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The river name is derived from the verb gjósa which means "stream forcefully".[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 September 1986. The arms show the typical shape of one of the main mountains in the municipality, Skeikampen.[4][5]

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Gausdal by country of origin in 2017[6]
Ancestry Number
 Poland84
 Denmark42
 Lithuania36
 Germany27
 Thailand24
 Somalia23
 Sweden16

History

The Follebu stone church was built in the early Middle Ages (around 1250). It is unusual in that the chancel and nave were built as one continuous piece.

In the 1880s, there was mining for nickel in Espedalen. The search for nickel was taken up again in 2004 by Blackstone Venture, a Canadian company. As of 2006, they are still drilling for mineral samples only.

The municipality of Gausdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Gausdal was divided into the separate municipalities of Vestre Gausdal and Østre Gausdal in 1879, but they were reunited into one municipality in 1962.

Geography
An old barn at Torshov farm in Vang to the west. Gausdal resident Abraham Pihl was the architect.

Gausdal is bordered on the northwest by Sør-Fron municipality, on the northeast by Ringebu and Øyer, on the southeast by Lillehammer, on the south by Nordre Land, on the southwest by Nord-Aurdal and Øystre Slidre.

The famous Peer Gynt mountain road begins here and leads to Vinstra.

A popular ski area is located on the south slope of Skeikampen mountain.

Western tributaries of the Gudbrandsdalslågen include the Gausa River, which flows through Gausdal valley.

Norway's smallest national park, Ormtjernkampen National Park, lies within the municipality.

Notable residents

Public service

The Arts
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, 1909

Sport

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Gausdal:[7]

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (in Norwegian) (4 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 183.
  4. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  5. "Om Gausdal" (in Norwegian). Gausdal kommune. Archived from the original on 2009-08-21. 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.
  7. "Vennskapstreff i Mora" (in Norwegian). Gausdal kommune. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
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