The 942-square-kilometre (364 sq mi) municipality is the 124th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Alvdal is the 253rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,493. The municipality's population density is 2.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.0/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.8% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
In 1864, the parish of Lille-Elvdal (later renamed "Alvdal") was separated from Tynset Municipality to become a separate municipality of its own. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 3,216. On 1 January 1914, the western part of Alvdal (population: 2,284) was separated to become the new Folldal Municipality. This left Alvdal with 2,135 residents.[7]
Name
The area was historically known as Elvdalen or Øvre Elvdalen (Old Norse: (øfri) Elfardalr). The first element is øfri meaning "upper", the next part is the genitive case of elfr which means "river", and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus the name means "(upper) river valley", referring to the upper part of the Glåma river valley. When the municipality was established in 1864, it was named Lille Elvdalen, which meant "Little" Elvdalen in order to distinguish it from the nearby Store Elvedalen municipality ("the large Elvedalen").[8] On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Alvdal, to better represent the local pronunciation of the name.[9]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 25 November 1988. The official blazon is "Azure, two skis in bend issuant from base sinister" (Norwegian: I blått to skrått framvoksende sølv ski). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of two diagonal skis. The charge 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 design symbolizes the history and importance of skiing in the area. One of the oldest pairs of skis discovered by archeologists in Norway was found in Alvdal. The skis were dated to about 500 AD. The arms were designed by Helge Ness from Alvdal. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[10][11][12][13][4]
Alvdal is bordered by Tynset to the north, Rendalen to the east and south, Stor-Elvdal to the south, and Folldal to the west. The highest mountain in the municipality is Storsølnkletten at 1,827 metres (5,994 ft) tall. Another mountain in Alvdal is Tronfjell. The lake Savalen is partially located in Alvdal. The rivers Sivilla and Glåma both flow through the municipality. The Jutulhogget canyon is located in this municipality as well.[4]
Economy
Agriculture and forestry are the most important industries in Alvdal.[4] The municipality rented public land to a bitcoin mining operation. In 2022, the municipality decided not to continue renting land to this company since no jobs were created from that enterprise, although one local company did some service work on occasion at the site.[14][15] In 2023, the municipality was sued for 4 million kr by the operator of the former bitcoin mining facility (on municipal property).[16][15]
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Alvdal is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Arvid Nilssen (1913–1976), a Norwegian actor, revue artist, singer, and comedian[40]
Kjell Aukrust (1920–2002), a Norwegian author, humourist, poet, and artist; the Huset Aukrust, (Norwegian Wiki) is dedicated to him and he is famous for creating the fictional Norwegian village of Flåklypa and its cast of idiosyncratic characters
Ola Jonsmoen (born 1932), a Norwegian educator, poet, novelist, and children's writer
Svein Borkhus (born 1955), a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 1999 to 2007
Olov Grøtting (born 1960), a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 2007 to 2011
Anne Nørdsti (born 1977), a Norwegian dansband singer who was influenced by country music
