# Tovdal

Tovdal (historic: Lille Topdal) is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 377-square-kilometre (146 sq mi) municipality existed from 1908 until its dissolution in 1967. Tovdal municipality was made up of the valley surrounding the river Tovdalselva and since 1967 it has been a part of the present-day municipality of Åmli which is now in Agder county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Hillestad where the Tovdal Church is located.

## History

The parish of Lille Topdal was a part of the municipality of Åmli when civil municipalities were created in Norway on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The municipality of Lille Topdal was established on 1 January 1908 when the municipality of Åmli was split into three separate municipalities: Lille Topdal (population: 389), Gjevedal (population: 590), and Åmli (population: 2,024). In 1922, the name of the municipality was changed from Lille Topdal to Tovdal. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1967, Tovdal (population: 161) was merged back into the municipality of Åmli. At the time of its dissolution, Tovdal was the smallest municipality in Norway by population.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was first named "Lille Topdal" after the Topdalen valley (Old Norse: Þofnardalr). The first element comes from the old name for the local river Tovdalselva. That name is likely derived from the word þúfa which means "mound" or "tuft". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The prefix of the name is lille which means "little". Historically, the name of the municipality was Lille Topdal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to simply Tovdal, dropping the prefix lille and changing the p to a v.

## Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Tovdal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Tovdal herredsstyre 1964–1967 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 4 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 6 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 4 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 5 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 4 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 4 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 12 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Tovdal herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 6 |
| | Joint list of the Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) and the Liberal Party (Venstre) | 6 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||