Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 251-square-kilometre (97 sq mi) 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.[4]
General information
View of the Audnedalen valleyView of the Konsmo areaView of the Grindheim Church
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.[5]
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.[5]
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Audnedal and Lyngdal merged into a new, larger municipality called Lyngdal.[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Audnedalen valley (Old Norse: Auðnudalr). The first element is the genitive case of the river name Auðna (now Audna). The river name is derived from the word auðn which means "destruction" or "wasteland" (because of the flooding that often happens along the river). The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".[7][8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 30 August 1991 and in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Vert, a circular sawblade argent" (Norwegian: I grønt et sølv sirkelsagblad). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a circular sawblade. The sawblade 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 green color in the field and the sawblade was chosen to represent the importance of the timber and forestry industries in the municipality. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Audnedal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
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.
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