Drangedal

Drangedal is a municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestestranda. Other villages in Drangedal include Bø i Tørdal, Bostrak, Gautefall, Henseid, and Neslandsvatn.
The municipality is the 106th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Drangedal is the 199th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,093. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 0.8% over the previous 10-year period.
The administrative centre, Prestestranda, is situated by Lake Toke. The municipal government is located there along with primary and secondary schools, shopping facilities, and a bank. Drangedal railway station is also located in Prestestranda and is served by the Oslo to Kristiansand Sørlandsbannen railway line. It was formerly connected to the Kragerø railway line, but that was closed in 1989.
The district of Tørdal encompassed the northwestern part of the municipality. Alpine and cross-country skiing is possible in Tørdal. Telemark's largest ski resort is located in Gautefall. The newspaper Drangedalsposten is published in Drangedal.
General information
The parish of Drangedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders have not changed since that time.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Drangedal valley. The first element is the plural genitive case of the word which means "pointed or jutting cliff or stone" or "mountain peak". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 21 April 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, two pine cones Or in pale". This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of two pine cones lined up vertically. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The green color in the field and the pine cone design symbolizes the vast forests in the municipality. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes within the municipality of Drangedal. It is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Government
All municipalities in Norway are 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 Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Mayors
The mayors of Drangedal (incomplete list):
2003-2011: Nils Tore Føreland (Ap)
2011-2015: Karianne Sydtveit Reiten (Ap)
2015-present: Tor Peder Lohne (Sp)
Municipal council
The municipal council of Drangedal is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Notable people
Hallvard Graatop (early 15th century), a rebel leader opposing the Crown and the bailiffs who may have lived at the Vraalstad farm in Drangedal
Andrew Gulickson (1856 in Drangedal – 1941), a Norwegian American politician, member of Wisconsin State Assembly
Knud Wefald (1869 in Yttre Vefald – 1936), a Norwegian American politician in the United States House of Representatives
Abraham Aakre (1874 in Drangedal – 1948), a Norwegian teacher and politician who was Mayor of Halden
Finn Støren (1893–1962), a Norwegian civil servant for Nasjonal Samling, lived in Drangedal from 1933
Knut T. Storbukås (born 1943 in Bostrak), a musician and truck driver, stage name Sputnik
Nils Tore Føreland (born 1957), a Norwegian politician who was Mayor of Drangedal from 2003-2011
Vidar Sundstøl (born 1963), a Norwegian crime fiction writer
Gallery
References
External links
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark
1838 establishments in Norway