Vardal is a former municipality in the old

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. The co ...

county,

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 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between

Gjøvik Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The ...

and

Vestre Toten Municipality Vestre Toten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Raufoss. Other villages in the municipality include Bøverbru, Ei ...

in the traditional district of

Vestoppland Vestoppland is a traditional district in Innlandet, Norway. The name, Western Uplands, stems from a time when the district was the western part of the Uplands. It now consists of the districts Land, Hadeland, Toten and Gjøvik (which itself co ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

was the village of Vardal.

History

The

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Vardal 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 ...

law). According to the 1835 census the parish had a population of 2,921 shortly before it became a municipality. On 1 January 1861 the town of Gjøvik (population: 626) was separated from Vardal to constitute a separate municipality, leaving Vardal with a population of 4,114. On 1 January 1896, a small area of Østre Toten Municipality (population: 49) was transferred into Vardal. On 1 January 1900, an unpopulated area of Søndre Land Municipality was transferred to Vardal. During the 20th century, the town of Gjøvik was growing and twice the town

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

parts of Vardal. On 1 July 1921, an area with 723 residents was taken from Vardal and added to Gjøvik. Then again on 1 July 1955, another area (population: 1,372) was transferred from Vardal to Gjøvik. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, Vardal Municipality was dissolved and its lands and people were transferred to neighboring municipalities: *the Sørligrenda area (population: 87) was merged with

(population: 9,113),

Eina Municipality Eina is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1908 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Vestre Toten Municipality in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centr ...

(population: 1,591), and a small part of

Gran Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jaren. Other villages in Gran include Bjoneroa, Brandbu, Egge, Gran, and ...

(population: 12) to form a new

. *the rest of Vardal (population: 9,612) was merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251), Snertingdal Municipality (population: 2,471), and Biri Municipality (population: 3,274) to form a new

Name

The municipality was named ''Vardal'' after the valley in which it is located. 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 ''Vardalr''. The first element is probably an old river name which could possibly come from the word which means "quiet" or "calm". The last element is ''dalr'' which means "dale" or "valley".

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vardal, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

representatives, which in turn elected a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Municipal council

The

of Vardal was made up of 29 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Vardal: *1837-1839: Hans Skikkelstad *1840-1845: Hans Peter Borchgrevink *1845-1847: Henrik Christian Borchgrevink *1848-1849: Christian Braastad *1850-1865: Johan Braastad *1866-1869: Peder Mustad *1870-1881: Anders Jørgensen Veum *1882-1889: Nicolai Forseth *1890-1891: Peter Braastad *1892-1895: Andreas Kastad *1896-1898: Lars J. Aalstad *1899-1901: Andreas Kastad *1902-1910: Halvor Fosmark ( AD) *1910-1922: Arne Fosnes ( AD) *1922-1925: Kristian Nyjordet ( Bp) *1926-1928: Ludvig Skjerven ( RF) *1929-1937: Knut A. Jenseth ( Ap) *1938-1940: Johannes Odnessveen ( Ap) *1941-1943: Knut A. Jenseth ( NS) *1943-1945: Kristian Fjeld ( NS) *1945-1945: Johannes Odnessveen ( Ap) *1946-1959: Andreas Nordland ( Ap) *1959-1959: Harald Børresen ( Ap) *1960-1963: Alf R. Iversen ( Ap)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Gjøvik Vestre Toten Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway