Vegårshei

Infobox_Kommune
name = Vegårshei
idnumber = 0912

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county = Aust-Agder
landscape = Sørlandet
capital = Vegårshei
demonym = Vegårsheiing
language = Neutral


munwebpage = www.vegarshei.kommune.no
governor = Maya Marianne Twedt Berli (Ap)
governor_as_of = 2004
arearank = 255
area = 356
arealand = 322
areapercent = 0.11
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 344
population = 1,856
populationpercent = 0.04
populationdensity = 6
populationincrease = 1.5
lat_deg = 58 | lat_min = 46 | lat_sec = 32 | lon_deg = 8 | lon_min = 49 | lon_sec = 56
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6515099 | utm_easting = 0490311 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Vegårshei is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. The parish of "Vegaardsheien" was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name may have been "Vigisheiðr". The first element is the genitive case of the name of the lake Vegår (the Norse form, and the meaning, of the name is uncertain). The last element is "heiðr" which means "heath (habitat)" or "moor".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 30 April 1987. The arms show a fox as a representative of the local wildlife and also for the fox farming in the village. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/v/vegardsh.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=4 October|accessyear=2008] see also2|Coat of arms of Dyrøy

Geography

Vegårshei is bordered on the north by Nissedal and Gjerstad, on the east by Risør, on the south by Tvedestrand, and on the west by Åmli.

The largest lake in Vegårshei is Vegår.

Economy

Vegårshei used to be an agricultural and lumbering community.

References