Mandal is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Lindesnes municipality in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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 ...

. Mandal is the fourth largest town in

as well as 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 Lindesnes municipality. It is located at the mouth of the river Mandalselva at the southern end of the Mandalen valley. The town has a population (2019) of 11,053 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 . In Norway, Mandal is considered a which can be translated as either a "town" or "city" in English. The town lies along the

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...

highway, about southwest of the town of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

and about southeast of the town of

Flekkefjord Flekkefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Lister Region, Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the ...

. Mandal has a few suburban villages lying just outside its borders such as Ime immediately to the east and Sånum to the southwest. The village of Krossen lies about to the north, along the Mandalselva river.

History

The area in which today's town of Mandal is located was not developed during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. During the 1300s, a trading post called ''Vester-Risør'' grew up along the Skogsfjorden, just west of the present-day town. The town began when King

Eric of Pomerania Erik of Pomerania ( 1381/1382 – 24 September 1459) ruled over the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He was initially co-ruler with his great-aunt Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret I until her death in 1412. Erik is known as Erik III as King of ...

gave the town the right to trade

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

. By the 1500s, Vesterrisør was a bustling port and trading centre, making it one of the oldest in Agder. In 1632, the trading post was given ladested rights, which included special trading privileges. During the mid-1600s, the name of the town was changed to Mandal. Salmon fishing and the timber industry pushed the town's growth even more during the 1700s. In 1779, the town's ladested status was formalized in the law.

Mandal Church Mandal Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Lindesnes Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the town of Mandal, Norway, Mandal. It is one of the two churches for the Mandal parish which is part of the Lister og ...

was completed in 1821 after the old church burned down in the town's fire of 1810. On 1 January 1838, the small ladested was granted self-governing rights under the new

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law. In 1921, Mandal was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it full town status under the law. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the town of Mandal (population: 5,446) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Halse og Harkmark (population: 3,676) and most of the municipality of Holum (population: 1,127) to form a new, larger municipality of Mandal. Today, the town is also a tourist destination, especially due to its Sjøsanden beach.

Name

The town is named after the valley (and river) in which it is located: Mandalen. The name ''Mandal'' which comes from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

name . The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the river name (now Mandalselva) and the last element is which means "valley" or "dale". Prior to 1653, the town was named ''Vesterrisør'' (meaning "western Risør"). The name was originally referring to the island ''Risøya'' outside the town, and the first element was added in the 16th century to distinguish it from the town of ''Østerrisør'' (meaning "eastern Risør"), which is now simply called ''

Risør is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Ri ...

''.

Municipal self-government (1838-1963)

In 1838, the

law granted towns municipal self-government. During this time, this 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

() of Mandal: * 1837–1838: Anton Henrik Scheel * 1839–1841: Johan Malthe Hübert * 1842-1842: Hans Peter Erichsen * 1843-1843: Gulow Andorsen * 1844-1844: Niels Nielsen Vogt * 1845–1846: Gulow Andorsen * 1847-1847: Niels Nielsen Vogt * 1847-1847: Daniel Peter Christian Isaachsen * 1848–1852: Ole Andreas Ohlsen * 1853–1854: Niels Nielsen Vogt * 1855-1855: Svennik Svensen * 1856-1856: Thomas Madsen * 1857-1857: Carl Emil Salvesen * 1858-1858: Albert Jacobsen * 1859-1859: Edvard Hieronimus Bassøe Wattne * 1860-1860: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen * 1861–1862: Svennik Svensen * 1863–1867: Lauritz Jacobsen * 1868-1868: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen * 1869–1879: Lauritz Jacobsen * 1879–1880: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen * 1881-1881: Hans Peter Rude * 1882–1888: Gabriel Egidius Johan Henrik Sem * 1889–1891: Hjalmar Selmer * 1892-1892: Johan Fredrik Ekholm Reymert * 1893–1899: Jens Kraft * 1900-1900: Jørgen Peter Jørgensen * 1901-1901: Adolf Paludan Ulriksen * 1902–1904: Jørgen Peter Jørgensen * 1905–1907: Torkild Tonstad * 1908–1916: Christen Andreas Christensen * 1917–1919: Kristen Schmidt * 1920–1922: Christen Andreas Christensen * 1923–1928: Marcus Halfdan Kastrud * 1929–1931: Hans Peter Tallaksen * 1932–1937: Marcus Halfdan Kastrud * 1938–1940: Johan Birger Pedersen * 1945-1945: Johan Birger Pedersen * 1946-1946: Arne Syrdahl ( Ap) * 1947-1947: Viktor Nygaard * 1948–1951: Jørgen Ørbech Bugge * 1952–1954: Viktor Nygaard * 1955-1955: Olav Gundersen * 1956–1957: Viktor Nygaard * 1959–1959: Herman Gulowsen * 1960–1963: Olav Gundersen

Municipal council

The

of Mandal was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Media gallery

Mandal Strasse.jpg, View of part of the town center Vestnes sett fra Buråstoppen, Mandal (2009).JPG, View of the Vestnes area of Mandal Mandal bridge.jpg, View of the bridge in Mandal Mandal sentrum sett fra Hobdetoppen.jpg, View of the town centre and beach area Mandal kirke2.JPG, View of the

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Agder Cities and towns in Norway Port cities and towns of the North Sea Port cities and towns in Norway 1632 establishments in Norway