Nordre Land

Nordre Land kommune
—  Municipality  —
Dokka in Nordre Land
Coat of arms Oppland within Norway
Nordre Land within Oppland
Coordinates: 60°55′55″N 10°1′2″E / 60.93194°N 10.01722°E / 60.93194; 10.01722Coordinates: 60°55′55″N 10°1′2″E / 60.93194°N 10.01722°E / 60.93194; 10.01722
Country	Norway
County	Oppland
District	Land, Norway
Administrative centre	Dokka
Government
- Mayor (2007)	Liv Solveig Alfstad (Ap)
Area
- Total	955 km2 (368.7 sq mi)
- Land	921 km2 (355.6 sq mi)
Area rank	112 in Norway
Population (2004)
- Total	6,916
- Rank	143 in Norway
- Density	8/km2 (20.7/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	-0.7 %
Demonym	Nordrelending[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0538
Official language form	Bokmål
Website	nordre-land.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Nordre Land is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka.

The old municipality of Land was divided into Nordre Land and Søndre Land in 1847. The area of Torpa was separated from Nordre Land on 1 January 1914 to become a separate municipality, but it was merged back into Nordre Land on 1 January 1962.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was just Land which means "land". The meaning of the name Nordre Land is "(the) northern (part of) Land". The parish and municipality of Land was divided in 1847.^[2]

See also: Søndre Land

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted in 1987. The arms show two gold-colored hooks for log driving (or "brøtningshaker") on a blue background. They were designed by Dag Magne Staurheim. The municipality of Nordre Land has rich traditions within the field of log driving, which the vast number of log dams within the area bare witness to. Tools were required for the log driving, and the local blacksmiths made pike poles. Every blacksmith created his own shape or design for the poles, and one of the most famous pike poles in Nordre Land were the ones made by the blacksmith Kristian Halden. In addition to pike poles he made knives. The poles and knives were named "Hæillhakar" and "Hæillakniver" by the locals. It is the "Halden Pole" which has been the model for the municipal arms of Nordre Land.^[3]

See also: Coats-of-arms for Åsnes, Fet, Jondal, and Marker.

Geography

Nordre Land is bordered on the north by the municipalities of Nord-Aurdal and Gausdal, on the northeast by Lillehammer, on the east by Gjøvik, on the south by Søndre Land, on the southwest by Sør-Aurdal, and on the west by Etnedal.

The river Etna flows from Etnedal and through western parts of the municipality down into the Randsfjorden. Lake Akksjøen is also in this area.

Attractions

• The rock carvings at Møllerstufossen are more than 6,000 years old. There are 11 carvings of moose, and also two that are more difficult to interpret. Sometime in the stone age this must have been an important place.

• The Lands Museum is located in Dokka. About thirty buildings are reassembled in the area. In the main building from the Thomle farm there are rococo paintings on the walls by Peder Aadnes dating from about 1750.

• 

  Rock carvings at Møllerstufossen

• 

  Main house Halmrast, Lands Museum

• 

  Østsinni church in Dokka

Notable residents

• Anna Georgine Rogstad (1845–1938), was the first woman elected to the Storting.

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (Anden halvdel) (4 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 179 & 196. http://books.google.com/books?id=jJMOAAAAYAAJ.  (Norwegian)
3. ^ "Kommunevåpen for Nordre Land". Nordre Land kommune. http://www.nordre-land.kommune.no/kommunevaapen-for-nordre-land.537116-86430.html. Retrieved 2009-01-04. 

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Oppland travel guide from Wikitravel