Oppland

Oppland [ˈɔ̂plɑn] (listen) was until 1 January 2020 a county in Norway bordering to the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration was located in Lillehammer.

Oppland fylke
Oppland mountains
Flag
Coat of arms
Oppland within Norway
CountryNorway
CountyOppland
RegionØstlandet
County IDNO-05
Administrative centreLillehammer
Government
  GovernorChristl Kvam
  (20152019)
  County mayorEven Aleksander Hagen
  (20152019)
Area
  Total25,192 km2 (9,727 sq mi)
  Land23,787 km2 (9,184 sq mi)
Area rank#5 in Norway, 7.82% of Norway's land area
Population
 (30 September 2019)
  Total189,437
  Rank12 (4.01% of country)
  Density8/km2 (20/sq mi)
  Change (10 years)
0.2 %
Demonym(s)Opplending
Time zoneUTC+01 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02 (CEST)
Official language formNeutral
Income (per capita)133,600 NOK
GDP (per capita)193,130 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank13 (2.32% of country)
Websitewww.oppland.no
Data from Statistics Norway
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1951160,496    
1961166,303+3.6%
1971172,479+3.7%
1981180,765+4.8%
1991182,593+1.0%
2001183,419+0.5%
2011186,087+1.5%
Source: Statistics Norway.[1]
Religion in Oppland[2][3]
religion percent
Christianity
89.60%
Islam
0.72%
Buddhism
0.14%
Other
9.54%

Oppland was, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway. Oppland and Hedmark counties were merged on 1 January 2020 to become the new county Innlandet.

Innlandet was one of several names proposed for the new administrative region consisting of Hedmark and Oppland.[4][5] The two counties were re-merged after being split in 1781 (then called Hedemarkens amt and Kristians amt, respectively). Historically, the region was commonly known as "Opplandene".

Geography

Oppland extended from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen and Rondane. The county was conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are the Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland and Land.

Oppland included the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik, Otta, and Fagernes, and Norway's two highest mountains, Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen, Valdres and the Gudbrand Valley being popular attractions. The Gudbrand Valley surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna River. It is a well known place for skiing and winter sports. The main population centres in this area were Beitostølen and Fagernes. Eight of the ten highest mountains in Norway are located in the western part of Oppland.

Etymology

In Norse times the inner parts of Norway were called Upplǫnd 'the upper countries'. The first element is upp 'upper'. The last element is lǫnd, the plural form of 'land'.

In 1757 the inner parts of the great Akershus amt were separated, and given the name Oplandenes Amt. This was divided in 1781 into Christians Amt (named after the king Christian VII) and Hedemarkens Amt. The name/form was changed to Kristians Amt in 1877 (after an official spelling reform that changed ch to k - see also Kristiania, Kristiansand and Kristiansund). In 1919 the name Kristians Amt was changed (back) to Opland fylke, and the form Oppland was settled in 1950.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms were granted in 1989, and it shows two Pulsatilla vernalis.

Municipalities

Oppland County (Christians Amt)[6] has a total of 26 municipalities:

  1. Dovre
  2. Etnedal
  3. Gausdal
  4. Gjøvik
  5. Gran
  6. Jevnaker (Jævnaker)
  7. Lesja (Lesje)
  8. Lillehammer
  9. Lom
  10. Lunner
  11. Nord-Aurdal
  12. Nord-Fron
  13. Nordre Land
  1. Østre Toten
  2. Øyer (Øier)
  3. Øystre Slidre
  4. Ringebu
  5. Sel
  6. Skjåk
  7. Søndre Land
  8. Sør-Aurdal (Søndre Aurdal)
  9. Sør-Fron
  10. Vågå (Vaage)
  11. Vang
  12. Vestre Slidre
  13. Vestre Toten
Number of minorities (1st and 2nd gen.)
in Oppland by country of origin in 2017
[7]
NationalityPopulation (2017)
 Poland2,421
 Lithuania1,606
 Somalia1,209
 Eritrea1,164
 Syria817
 Denmark743
 Iraq714
 Sweden698
 Germany660
 Bosnia-Herzegovina624
 Thailand574
 Afghanistan560
 Netherlands495
 Iran495
 Russia466
 Philippines376
 Vietnam365
 Kosovo330

Districts

Cities

Parishes

Villages

Former municipalities

References

  1. Projected population - Statistics Norway
  2. Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.
  3. Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010
  4. Magnus Newth; Ingvill Dybfest Dahl (21 February 2017). "Dette er Norges nye regioner" [These are Norway's new regions]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. "Hedmark og Oppland blir ett fylke" [Hedmark and Oppland become one county] (in Norwegian). NRK. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  6. Formannskapsdistrikt Original spellings of counties and municipalities in parentheses.
  7. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". SSB. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  • Media related to Oppland at Wikimedia Commons
  • Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
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