Nord-Aurdal

Nord-Aurdal kommune
—  Municipality  —
View over Strandefjorden, with Fagernes to the right
Coat of arms Oppland within Norway
Nord-Aurdal within Oppland
Coordinates: 60°57′35″N 9°15′51″E / 60.95972°N 9.26417°E / 60.95972; 9.26417Coordinates: 60°57′35″N 9°15′51″E / 60.95972°N 9.26417°E / 60.95972; 9.26417
Country	Norway
County	Oppland
District	Valdres
Administrative centre	Fagernes
Government
- Mayor (2003)	Svein Erik F. Hilmen (Sp)
Area
- Total	907 km2 (350.2 sq mi)
- Land	850 km2 (328.2 sq mi)
Area rank	122 in Norway
Population (2004)
- Total	6,539
- Rank	151 in Norway
- Density	8/km2 (20.7/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	-0.9 %
Demonym	Nordaurdøl[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0542
Official language form	Neutral
Website	nord-aurdal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Nord-Aurdal is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fagernes.

The parish of Nordre Aurdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Nordre Etnedal was transferred from Nord-Aurdal to the neighboring municipality of Etnedal on 1 January 1894.

The municipality is served by Fagernes Airport, Leirin. In Nord-Aurdal, there is an alpine skiing center called Valdres Alpinsenter.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Aurardalr. The first element is the genitive case of an old river name Aur (now called Bøaelva) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The old river name is derived from aurr which means "gravel". The name was changed from Nordre- to Nord- Aurdal in the early 20th century. Both nordre and nord mean "north", so the name Nord-Aurdal means "(the) northern (part of) Aurdal". (The parish of Aurdal was divided in 1805.)^[2]

Coat-of-arms

Gentiana nivalis

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted by royal degree on 20 December 1985. The arms show three blue flowers of the species Gentiana nivalis (or Snow Gentian) on a yellow background. The flowers, which are locally known as "the blue eyes of Christ", grow abundantly in the area. Three flowers were chosen to represent the three main settlements of the municipality: Aurdal, Fagernes, and Leira. This type of flower only opens in sunlight and heat, so it was chosen to symbolize being open and positive.^[3][4]

Geography

Nord-Aurdal municipality is located north of Sør-Aurdal municipality, east of Etnedal and Gausdal municipalities, and south of Øystre Slidre and Vestre Slidre municipalities in Oppland county. To the west, it is bordered by Hemsedal and Gol in Buskerud county. Nord-Aurdal is 52.4 kilometres (32.6 mi) on the north-south axis and 43.3 kilometres (26.9 mi) on the east-west axis.

The municipality lies in the western side of Oppland county. Although Fagernes is the administrative center of Nord-Aurdal, the village of Aurdal was the administrative center for the former municipality of Aurdal. Nord-Aurdal is part of the traditional district of Valdres in the central part of southern Norway, situated between the valleys of Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.

The highest point in Nord-Aurdal is the Duptjernkampen at 1,325 metres (4,347 ft). About 50% of the land is above 900 metres (3,000 ft). The Tisleifjorden and Aurdalsfjorden are large inland lakes that are located in Nord-Aurdal.

Attractions

Valdres Folkemuseum is located just outside Fagernes and has large collections of old houses, textiles, and music instruments.

• 

  Valdres Folkemuseum

• 

  Valdres Museum

• 

  Skattebustugu

Notable residents

• Knut Hamsun, writer, see NRK, Dagbladet, and Aftenposten
• James C. M. Hanson (1864–1943), American librarian and author.^[5]

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Nord-Aurdal:^[6]

• - Kouvola, Etelä-Suomi, Finland
• - Lidköping, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
• - Skanderborg, Region Midtjylland, Denmark

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. 251. http://books.google.com/books?id=jJMOAAAAYAAJ.  (Norwegian)
3. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/n/nordaurd.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-04. 
4. ^ "Kommunevåpenet for Nord-Aurdal". Nord-Aurdal kommune. http://www.nord-aurdal.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=1&AId=138&back=1. Retrieved 2009-01-04.  (Norwegian)
5. ^ James Christian Meinich Hanson (Odd Lovell. Store norske leksikon
6. ^ "Vennskapsbyer". Nord-Aurdal kommune. http://www.nord-aurdal.kommune.no/Artikkel.aspx?AId=36&back=1&MId1=21&MId2=66&MId3=67. Retrieved 2009-01-04.  (Norwegian)

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Oppland travel guide from Wikitravel
• Valdres travel guide from Wikitravel
• Valdresen - The local newspaper in Nord-Aurdal.
• Valdres Alpinsenter