The 1,141-square-kilometre (441 sq mi) municipality is the 95th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Nord-Fron is the 169th most populous municipality in Norway, with a population of 5,589. The municipality's population density is 5.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (13/sq mi), and its population has decreased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
General information
The prestegjeld of Fron was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 when the new formannskapsdistrikt law was enacted. On 1 January 1851, the municipality was divided in two. The northwest portion became Nord-Fron Municipality (population: 4,685), and the southeast portion became Sør-Fron Municipality (population: 3,421).[6]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Sjoa area (population: 413) was transferred from Nord-Fron to the neighboring Sel Municipality. Then, on 1 January 1966, the municipalities of Nord-Fron (population: 5,758) and Sør-Fron (population: 3,648) were merged to form a new Fron Municipality (with similar borders to the old Fron municipality that existed from 1838 to 1851 minus the Sjoa area which was then part of Sel).[6]
This merger was not well-liked among the residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed. Nord-Fron (population: 6,131) and Sør-Fron (population: 3,509) were recreated using their old borders from 1965.[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fron farm (Old Norse: Frón) since the first Fron Church was built there. The first element is nord which means "northern". The last element is uncertain, but it may come from the word frón, which means "earth" or "land". Thus the name of the municipality is "(the) northern (part of) Fron" (since the parish of Fron was divided in 1851 into a "north" and a "south" part). Historically, it was called Nordre Fron, using another word that also means "north".[7] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Nordre Fron. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nord-Fron, using an alternate word for "north".[8]
The coat of arms was granted on 18 July 1980. The official blazon is "Gules, a horse forcenéOr" (Norwegian: På raud botn ein oppreist gull hest). This means the arms have a red field (background), and the charge is a Dole Gudbrandsdal horse rearing up on its hind legs. The horse 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 Fron area has a long-standing tradition in horse breeding and is one of the main centres of horse breeding in Norway. Historically, the old Fron municipality used unofficial arms with a horse on it. After Fron was divided into Nord- and Sør-Fron in 1977, Nord-Fron chose these arms. Hallvard Trætteberg designed the arms. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10]
Nord-Fron is bordered to the northwest by Sel municipality, to the east and south by Sør-Fron municipality, in the south by Øystre Slidre municipality, and to the southwest by Vågå municipality. The municipality stretches from the Rondane mountains in the north to the Jotunheimen mountains in the southwest.
There are two main population centres in Nord-Fron: the town of Vinstra in the central part of the municipality and the village of Kvam in the north. Kvam is located at the northern end of the Peer Gynt Road, which passes through high roads with excellent views of the Jotunheimen, Dovrefjell, and Rondane mountain.[13]
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Nord-Fron is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Note: On 1 January 1977, Fron Municipality was divided into Nord-Fron and Sør-Fron municipalities (reversing the merger from 1 January 1966). A special election was held in 1976 for a new council that existed from 1977-1979.
Rondane National Park, which lies partially in Nord-Fron, was the first Norwegian National Park, established on 21 December 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged, and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged.[32]
Jotunheim National Park is not technically in Nord-Fron, but its southern border brushes Nord-Fron's western border.[32]
Sister cities
Nord-Fron has sister city agreements with the following places:[33]
Peder Per Veggum (1768 in Nord-Fron – 1836), a Norwegian artist and rose painter, a cabinet carpenter and woodcarver; associated with the decorative folk art of Rosemaling
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