Audnedal
Audnedal is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Konsmo. Other villages in Audnedal include Byremo and Vivlemo. The municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when Audnedal was merged into the neighboring municipality of Lyngdal in what is now Agder county. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 302nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Audnedal was the 341st most populous municipality in Norway with a population  of 1,765. General information. The old municipality of Undal was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). That municipality only existed until 1845 when it was split into Nord-Audnedal and Sør-Audnedal. Those municipalities were later divided also. Sør-Audnedal was divided into Spangereid in 1899 and Nord-Audnedal was divided into Konsmo and Vigmostad in 1911. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. This is when the present-day municipality of Audnedal was created. Audnedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1964 when the  municipality of Konsmo (population: 712), the municipality of Grindheim (population: 701), and the Ågedal and Midtbø areas (population: 96) of Bjelland municipality were merged. This new Audnedal municipality mostly corresponded to the historical borders of the old municipality of Nord-Audnedal. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Audnedal and Lyngdal merged into a new, larger municipality called "Lyngdal". Name. The municipality was named after the Audnedalen valley in which it is located. The Old Norse form of the name was . The first element is the genitive case of the river name "Auðna" (now Audna) and the last element  is "dalr" which means "valley" or "dale". The river name is derived from the Norse word "auðn" which means "destruction" (because of flooding). Coat of arms. The coat of arms was granted on 30 August 1991. It shows a silver or white blade of a circular saw on a green background. This symbol was chosen to represent the timber and forestry industries in the municipality. Churches. The Church of Norway had two parishes () within the municipality of Audnedal. It is part of the Mandal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. Government. All municipalities in Norway, including Audnedal , are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor. Municipal council. The municipal council of Audnedal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: Geography. Audnedal was an inland municipality, located in the Audnedalen valley which follows the river Audna. The municipality of Åseral bordered it to the north, Hægebostad to  the west, Lyngdal and Lindesnes to the south, and Marnardal to the east. To the northeast, Audnedal bordered the municipality of Evje og Hornnes in neighboring Aust-Agder county. Audnedal municipality had two large lakes: Ytre Øydnavatnet and Øvre Øydnavatnet. The Mandalselva river also passed through the northern part of the municipality.