Sør-Odal

Sør-Odal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Odalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skarnes.

Sør-Odal kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Innlandet within
Norway
Sør-Odal within Innlandet
Coordinates: 60°14′12″N 11°44′44″E
CountryNorway
CountyInnlandet
DistrictOdal, Norway
Administrative centreSkarnes
Government
 • Mayor (2016)Knut Hvithammer (Ap)
Area
 • Total517 km2 (200 sq mi)
 • Land479 km2 (185 sq mi)
Area rank203 in Norway
Population
 (2016)
 • Totalapproximately 7,800
 • Rank129 in Norway
 • Density16/km2 (40/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
3.4%
Demonym(s)Odøling[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3415
Official language formBokmål[2]
Websitewww.sor-odal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

The parish of Søndre Odalen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The municipality is a rural community situated along the river Glåma and around the southern side of the lake Storsjøen. It is bordered by the municipalities of Eidskog in the south, by Kongsvinger in the east, and by Nord-Odal and Grue in the north. The terrain is dominated by rolling hills, lakes, and pine forests.

General information

Name

The last element is the old district name Odal (Old Norse: Ódalr). The first element of this is ó, a sideform of á which means "river" (here the Glåma river). The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".

The first element Sør- (meaning "southern") was added after 1819 when the parish of Odal was divided in two. (See Nord-Odal.)

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 10 January 1992. The arms show three gold keys on a red background. They represent the three parishes of Oppstad, Strøm, and Ulleren and the three local bodies of water: Glomma, Oppstadåa, and Storsjøen. The key symbolizes justice, knowledge, and positive ideals. The arms were designed by Harald Hallstensen.[3]

See also: Coat-of-arms of Gol

Ethnic and foreign minority
Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Sør-Odal by country of origin in 2017[4]
Ancestry Number
 Poland101
 Sweden49
 Thailand46
 Eritrea45
 Lithuania37
 Germany37
 Romania34
 Denmark22

Economy

The economy is based on a mix of manufacturing, farming, and services. Skarnes has a train connection to Oslo.

Notable residents
  • Øystein Sunde, a Norwegian songwriter and entertainer is from Skarnes
  • Peder Sather, emigrated to the United States, became a successful banker and philanthropist for whom the Sather Tower at UC Berkeley in California is named
  • Martin Linnes, Norwegian footballer

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Sør-Odal:[5]

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. "Kommunevåpen for Sør-Odal kommmune" (in Norwegian). Sør-Odal kommmune. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  4. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  5. "Sør-Odal - en kommune med mangfold i kulturtilbudet" (in Norwegian). Sør-Odal kommune. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.