Ål is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the traditional and electoral district

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is part of the

traditional region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social ...

Hallingdal Hallingdal ( en, Halling Valley) is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hal ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of ''Aal'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

). The area of

Hol Hol is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. Administrative history The area of Hol was separated from the municipality Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants moved to Hol municip ...

was separated from the municipality of Aal in 1877 to become a separate municipality.

Geography

80% of Ål municipality is at least above sea level. The highest point is Raudbergnuten at .

Reineskarvet 275 px, Reineskarvet Reineskarvet is a significant mountain in the municipality of Ål in Buskerud, Norway. It is located in the Skarvheimen highland area between Jotunheimen and Hardangervidda, on the north side of Hallingdalen, west of He ...

, the significant mountain of Ål has a summit of . In the winter, Ål has over of maintained cross country ski trails. Ål borders the municipalities of Ål

, Gol,

Hemsedal Hemsedal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. Hemsedal lies on the Norwegian National Road 52 (Rv 52). Hemsedal ...

Nes The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

Nore og Uvdal Nore og Uvdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is ...

, and

Lærdal Lærdal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Lærdalsøyri. The old Filefjell Kong ...

. The

Bergen Line The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...

, the rail line between Oslo and Bergen runs through Ål.

Ål Station Ål Station ( no, Ål stasjon) is a railway station located at Ål, Norway. The station is served by up to six daily express trains operated by Vy. The station was opened as part of the Bergen Line between Bergen and Gulsvik in 1907. On 1 Novemb ...

has an elevation of and is the halfway station on the Bergen Line.

Hallingdalselva Hallingdalselva ( en, Hallingdal River) is a river which flows through the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal in Buskerud County, Norway. Within the valley, the river is often referred to as the Great River (''Storåne''). Hallingdal ...

runs in the bottom of the main valley, forming Strandafjorden, a long, narrow lake for several kilometers. Ål has several hydroelectric dams. Hallingdalselva runs partly in a tunnel from here to Nes municipality, where it drives a large turbine power plant.

Mountains

Djupeskardnosi Djupeskardnosi is a mountain in Ål municipality in Buskerud, Norway. It has an altitude of 1,711 meters above sea level and is the 699 highest mountain in Norway with prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous heig ...

General information

Approximately 5,000 inhabitants spread over several smaller villages including Ål, Torpo, Leveld, Vats, Trillhus, Granhagen, Breie and Strand. There is a strong cultural tradition, with folk music being a big part of people's identity. Folkemusikkveka is held every May for a week. The traditional industry of Ål is mostly small-farming. Many livestock farms are still in operation with small herds of sheep, dairy cattle, and goats. Crop growing is difficult because of the steep valley walls, but wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes have all been grown in the past. The award-winning local paper ''

Hallingdølen ''Hallingdølen'' is a Norwegian language local newspaper published in Ål, Norway and serves Hallingdal. Profile ''Hallingdølen'' was established in 1936. The paper is not owned by one of the large media conglomerates. It was founded by commun ...

'' has offices in the village of Ål. It comes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Ål has a Videregående school and a Folkehøyskole for deaf students.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was ''Áll''. The name is identical with the word ''áll'' which means "

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

" or "

gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

". In 1921, the spelling of the name was changed from ''"Aal"'' to ''"Ål"''.

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

is from modern times. The arms were granted on 30 November 1984 and show three silver diamond shapes in a vertical line on a red background. The designs are taken from an old and common pattern used in hand-woven tapestries in the area. They also symbolize the three churches in the municipality: Ål, Torpo, and Leveld.

Attractions

Torpo Stave Church Torpo Stave Church ( no, Torpo stavkyrkje) is a stave church located in Torpo, a small village in Ål municipality in Viken county, Norway. Torpo is located along Norwegian National Road 7, the Norwegian national road which runs between Oslo an ...

(built around 1190–1200) is located in

Torpo Torpo is a small village in Ål municipality, in Viken County, Norway, and can be reached by using highway 7. The name Torpo was adopted July 1, 1935 from the old name Torpe. At this date the train station and local post office started using th ...

Ål Bygdamuseum Ål Bygdamuseum, a small museum on the farm Leksvol in Ål municipality in Viken county, Norway, is a subsidiary of Hallingdal Museum Hallingdal Museum Nesbyen (formerly Hallingdal Folkemuseum) is an open-air museum at Nesbyen within Nes in Viken ...

is built around the old Leksvol farm, and is typical of the area. The buildings go back to the 17th century. In later years the museum gained additional buildings, ''Øvre tunet'', ''Stølen'', and ''Husmannsplassen'', where a stone cottage has been reconstructed, similar to those used in the mountain ''sæter''. * Hallingdal feriepark, camping with high ropes course and activities * Ål Skisenter, downhill skiing facility

Notable people from Ål

Hallgrim Berg Hallgrim Berg (born 28 January 1945) is a Norwegian author, traditional folk musician, and former politician for the Conservative Party. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament from 1982 to 1997, representing Buskerud. He has released several ...

(born 1945), folk musician and politician * Lars T. Bjella (1922–2013), politician, active in Ål local politics for 25 years * Stein Torleif Bjella (born 1968), songwriter, singer, and guitarist *

Nils Terje Dalseide Nils Terje Dalseide (29 August 1952 – 10 June 2018) was a Norwegian judge and civil servant. He was born in Ål. He served as State Conciliator of Norway The National Mediator of Norway ( no, Riksmekleren, until 2012 ''Riksmeklingsmannen'') i ...

(1952–2018), judge and civil servant * Kristian Hefte (1905–1977), actor *

Trond Helleland Trond Helleland (born 10 July 1962 in Kvam, Hordaland) is a Norway, Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Buskerud (Storting constituency), Buskerud in the ''St ...

(born 1962), politician *

Odd Hoftun Odd Hoftun (27 December 1927 – 15 March 2023) was a Norwegian engineer and missionary. Biography Hoftun was born in Ål to power station operator Erik Hoftun and schoolteacher Martha Indergaard. He was educated as electrical engineer from the ...

(born 1927), engineer and missionary to Nepal *

Eldbjørg Løwer Eldbjørg Løwer (born 14 July 1943) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. Education Løwer was trained at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry. Career Løwer was a ceramist. Løwer began her career in politic ...

(born 1943), politician *

Mikkel Ødelien Mikkel Ødelien (5 October 1893 – 11 February 1984) was a Norwegian scientist, educator and soil researcher. He was born in Ål, Buskerud County, Norway. He took the cand.agric. degree in 1918, and published the journal ''Årbok for beitebruk'' ...

(1893–1984), scientist, educator and soil researcher *

Einfrid Perstølen Einfrid Perstølen (15 June 1917 – 7 January 2017) was a Norwegian psychiatrist and language proponent. Life She was born in Ål, and was a specialist in child psychiatry. She was an assisting chief physician in Oslo from 1961 to 1972, and the ...

(1917–2017), psychiatrist and

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

language proponent *

Ambjørg Sælthun Ambjørg Sælthun, née Ødelien (27 July 1922 – 2 January 2012) was a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. She was born in Ål. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Sogn og Fjordane in 1973, and was re-elected on two occ ...

(1922–2012), farmer and politician *

Ole Larsen Skattebøl Ole Larsen Skattebøl (2 March 1844 – 8 June 1929) was a Norwegian judge and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born in Ål. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway in 1877, representing the constituency of Buskeruds Amt, and wa ...

(1844–1929), judge and politician *

Embrik Strand Embrik Strand (2 June 1876 – 3 November 1947) was an entomologist and arachnologist who classified many insect and spider species including the greenbottle blue tarantula. Life and career Strand was born in Ål, Norway. He studied at t ...

(1876–1947),

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of sp ...

Olav Thon Olav Thon (born 29 June 1923) is a Norwegian real estate developer and listed in the ''Forbes'' list of billionaires as the 198th richest person in the world with a net worth of $6 billion as of March 2013. He is Norway's richest person a ...

(born 1923), real estate developer and billionaire

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Ål: * -

Sololá __NOTOC__ Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It is located close to Lake Atitlan. The name is a Hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one spel ...

Sololá Department Sololá is a department in the west of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Sololá. Lake Atitlan is a key feature surrounded by a number of the municipalities. Municipalities # Concepción # Nahualá # Panajachel # San Andrés Semetabaj ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

Official Tourist Website

Folkemusikkveka
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Al Hallingdal Municipalities of Buskerud Municipalities of Viken (county) Villages in Buskerud