The Uplands (
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 ...
: ''Upplǫnd'',
Norwegian: ''Opplanda''), is an ancient name for the agricultural lands and forest regions to the north of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
in
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 ...
. The term generally included the districts
Romerike
Romerike is a traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Viken municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern end ( Nedre Romerike ...
,
Ringerike,
Hedmarken
Hedmarken (, ; known as ''Hedemarken'' until 2003) is a traditional district in Innlandet county in Eastern Norway.
Hedmarken consists of the municipalities Stange, Hamar, Løten, and Ringsaker. In the past, it also contained the municipalities ...
,
Toten
Toten is a traditional district in Innlandet county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten and Vestre Toten.
The combined population of Toten is approximately 27,000. The largest town is Raufoss with ...
,
Hadeland
Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Viken counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet county ...
and
Land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isl ...
. To the north, these lands branched out through valleys to the districts
Gudbrandsdalen
Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towa ...
, and
Østerdalen
Østerdalen () is a valley and traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. It includes the municipalities Rendalen, Alvda ...
, which often were counted as part of the Uplands as well. It has also been implied that the districts
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.
...
,
Numedal,
Valdres
Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slid ...
, and
Telemark
Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...
were also included.
''Innlandet'' was one of several names proposed for a future administrative region consisting of Hedmark and Oppland.
The two counties were re-merged in January 2020 after having been split in 1781 (then called
Hedemarkens amt and
Kristians amt, respectively).
History
In the Viking Age, Oppland was also an administrative unit ruled by kings:
* Eystein, father of Ã…sa who married
Halfdan Hvitbeinn (see
Ynglinga Saga
''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...
, paragraph 49)
* Halfdan "the Aged" Sveidasson (c. 750)
* Ivar Halfdansson (c. 770)
* Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson, son-in-law of
Ragnvald the Mountain-High and father of
Ragnvald Eysteinsson (788)
See also
*
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. Th ...
References
{{coord, 60.7953, 11.0827, type:landmark_old_region:NO-34, display=title
Districts of Norway