Kvinesdal Municipality

Kvinesdal is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Liknes. Other villages in Kvinesdal include Feda, Fjotland, Knaben, and Storekvina.

Kvinesdal is an elongated mountain-to-coast municipality, reaching saltwater at the head of the Fedafjorden, which provides access to the North Sea in the south. Further north, the landscape is cut by narrow valleys with scattered small villages. There are also abandoned mines at Knaben, a popular ski resort. Because Kvinesdal resembles the geography of the nation as a whole, it is often referred to as "Little Norway".

The municipality is the 121st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Kvinesdal Municipality is the 156th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.4% over the previous 10-year period.

From the 1850s until the 1950s, many people emigrated from Kvinesdal Municipality and moved to North America, particularly to the United States. It is noted as being an "American village" () because of the high number of American residents in Kvinesdal Municipality. These people are typically either Norwegians who moved to the States, obtained US Citizenship, and then later moved back to Norway, or they are descendants of Norwegians who have never acquired Norwegian citizenship.

General information

thumb|upright|left|View of the Kvinesdal valley

thumb|upright|left|View of Kvinesdal (1963)

thumb|upright|left|[[Kvinesdal Church]]

The parish of Kvinesdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1841, the rural neighboring Fjotland Municipality (population: 980) to the north was merged with Kvinesdal Municipality (population: 3,226) to form a new, larger Kvinesdal Municipality, although this was short-lived. In 1858, the merger was un-done and Kvinesdal Municipality was divided: the northern district (population: 1,044) became Fjotland Municipality once again and the southern district (population: 4,485) continued on as smaller Kvinesdal Municipality.

On 1 January 1900, Kvinesdal Municipality was divided into two: the southern area around the Fedafjorden (population: 1,090) became the new Feda Municipality and the northern district (population: 2,937) was renamed as Liknes Municipality. In 1917, Liknes Municipality was changed (back) to Kvinesdal Municipality. On 1 January 1963, the following areas were merged to form a much larger Kvinesdal Municipality:

In 1900, the municipality was renamed Liknes Municipality. This was short-lived, however, and in 1917 the name was changed back to Kvinesdal Municipality. The new name came from the old Liknes farm (). The first element comes from the word which means "game" or "sport". The last element is which means "headland". Thus, a headland for games or sports.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 15 March 1985. The official blazon is "Azure a pall engrailed argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a Y-shaped figure called a pall with edges that are engrailed. The pall has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the pall design was chosen to symbolize the meeting of the two local rivers: Kvina and Litleåna which join at the village of Liknes and then flow south together to the Fedafjorden. The arms were designed by Truls Nygaard who developed it using ideas by Hans Freddy Larsen and Lars Olsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Kvinesdal Municipality. It is part of the Lister og Mandal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Kvinesdal Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|rowspan="1"|Feda||Feda Church||Feda||1802

|rowspan="2"|Fjotland||Fjotland Church||Fjotland||1836

|Netlandsnes Chapel||Netland||1886

|rowspan="1"|Kvinesdal||Kvinesdal Church||Liknes||1837

Geography

The long, narrow Kvinesdal Municipality stretches from the mountains in the north, along the Kvinesdal valley to the Fedafjorden in the south. To the west, Kvinesdal Municipality is bordered by Flekkefjord Municipality and Sirdal Municipality. To the east, it is bordered by Åseral Municipality and Hægebostad Municipality. To the south, it is bordered by Lyngdal Municipality, and it is bordered by Farsund Municipality in the east and south. A small segment of the northern boundary borders Bygland Municipality.

The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Venehei, located a short distance north of the village of Knaben.

Population

About 10% of the inhabitants of Kvinesdal Municipality are American citizens, and the municipality does enjoy a special relationship with the United States. Every year, the municipality hosts a special festival remembering the days when local people emigrated to the new world.

History

thumb|right|View of the Salmeli farm

The Kvinesdal valley was home of many prominent characters in the Saga Period. Among them were the Skald Tjodolv the Frode. Frode means one with great knowledge of the history of ancestors. He composed a historic poem for his king Harold Fairhair. His work was later combined into the Heimskringla when it was recorded by Snorri Sturluson.

In northern Kvinesdal, along the high plateau which sits at above sea level, records show that the Salmeli Farm dates back at least to the year 1300. During the Black Death years of 1350 the farm became deserted, but was back as a working farm again by 1647. It is now a historic site.

The bailiff Stig Bagge, who was granted local leadership from 1536 to 1542 by king Christian III, was an energetic man when he lived at his ancestral home of Eikeland in Kvinesdal. According to the reports of Peder Claussøn Friis, he executed refractory peasants so willingly that the district thought it was to excess; he was the district's bogeyman for many years thereafter. When the bailiff in Nedenes was killed in his bed and rebels came in an unsuccessful attempt to capture and execute Stig, he collected his men and brutally stifled the revolt. Stig himself died by being drawn and quartered by the Dutch when he was caught in piracy or espionage off their coast at Walcheren.

Government

Kvinesdal Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Kvinesdal Municipality is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Kvinesdal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1840: Rev. Jens Saxe
1841–1843: Didrik Mortensen Bøgvad
1844–1845: Hans Hansen Feda
1846–1847: Anders Christian Tollaksen Rørvik
1848–1851: Didrik Mortensen Bøgvad
1852–1852: Anders Christian Tollaksen Rørvik
1853–1854: Salve Olsen Aamodt
1854–1858: Sigbjørn Stenersen Helle
1858–1859: Asbjørn Sigbjørnsen Sande
1860–1861: Rev. Tollef Martin Bang
1862–1863: Hans Hansen Teigen
1864–1867: Rev. Tollef Martin Bang
1868–1874: Hans Hansen Teigen
1874–1875: Andreas Andersen Lindland
1876–1877: Ole Svendsen Jerstad
1878–1879: Hans Berntsen Gullestad
1880–1898: Andreas Andersen Lindland
1899–1907: Daniel Olsen Aamodt
1908–1916: Gabriel Sørensen Røynestad
1917–1919: Karl Arnesen Haugland
1920–1928: Jens Hompland
1929–1931: Sevald Åmodt
1932–1934: Jens Hompland
1935–1937: Sevald Åmodt
1938–1940: Hans O. Egeland
1941–1942: Sevald Åmodt
1943–1945: Halvdan Hansen (NS)
1945–1947: Hans O. Egeland
1948–1971: Tønnes Oksefjell (V)
1971–1975: Olav A. Egeland (Ap)
1975–1979: Arnold Omland (KrF)
1979–1983: Olav Konsmo (H)
1983–1990: Arnold Omland (KrF)
1990–1999: Anders Mathias Larsen (KrF)
1999–2003: Sigmund Oksefjell (Sp)
2003–2013: Odd Omland (Ap)
2013–2015: Svein Arne Jerstad (Ap)
2015–present: Per Sverre Kvinlaug (KrF)

Economy

In addition to various small businesses and public services, Kvinesdal's economy is driven in part by hydroelectric power. The Sira-Kvina power company derives hydroelectric power from the Kvina river, in addition to various smaller dams. Eramet is an important local employer that provides work to about 200 persons in producing manganese-alloys. There is also a small tourism industry, with golfing and fishing being the main draws.

Notable people

125px|thumb|Aril Edvardsen, 2007

125px|thumb|Silvia Moi, 2006

Peder Jacobsen Bøgvald (1762 in Feda – 1829), a sea captain, farmer, and politician
Kristian Marcelius Førland (1891–1978), an artist who lived and painted in Kvinesdal
Erling Moi (1918 in Kvinesdal – 1944), a Norwegian resistance member in WWII
Sigbjørn Hølmebakk (1922 in Feda – 1981), an author
Anne Gullestad (1925 in Kvinesdal – 1998), an actress and theatre director
Gordon Hølmebakk (1928 in Feda – 2018), a publishing editor, essayist, and novelist
Aril Edvardsen (1938 in Kvinesdal – 2008), an evangelical preacher and missionary whose former home is now a museum
Andreas Hompland (born 1946 in Kvinesdal), a social scientist, journalist, and non-fiction writer
Arnfinn Moland (born 1951 in Kvinesdal), a historian and writer
Odd Omland (born 1956), a politician who was mayor of Kvinesdal from 2003 to 2013
Per Sverre Kvinlaug (born 1974), a politician who was mayor of Kvinesdal starting in 2015
Silvia Moi (born 1978 in Kvinesdal), an opera singer
Luxus Leverpostei, (Norwegian Wiki), a band formed in Kvinesdal in 1991