Dalen is the

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of Tokke Municipality in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The village is located at the flat

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

where the river

Tokke Tokke is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dal ...

flows into the west end of the lake

Bandak Bandak is a lake in the municipalities of Kviteseid and Tokke in Telemark county, Norway. The lake, which is part of the Telemark Canal route, belongs to the Skien Drainage basin, watershed. The river Tokke (river), Tokke flows into the lake, a ...

. The village of Eidsborg lies about north of Dalen and the village of Åmdals Verk lies about to the south of Dalen. The village has a population (2022) of 532 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . The village of Dalen is the westernmost endpoint of the Telemark Canal which runs from Dalen to the town of

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

to the southeast. Dalen became a tourist site due to all the canal traffic. The Dalen Hotel, built in 1894, is among the largest wooden buildings in Norway. The Tokke Hydroelectric Power Station is a

hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

that is located on the east side of Dalen. The power station exploits the change in height from the lake Vinjevatn to the lake

at Dalen.

Statkraft Statkraft AS is a hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is ac ...

's regional headquarters for

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...

are located in Dalen. This headquarters oversees and manages 38 power stations in the region. Dalen's population increased as the power systems were constructed during the 1950s, but then declined again after this finished by the 1960s.

Name

The village is named ''Dalen''. In Norwegian, the preposition used for locations can vary depending on the name. "In Dalen" is translated ''på Dalen''—literally "on Dalen".

References

Tokke Villages in Telemark {{Telemark-geo-stub