is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alleen. Some of the main villages in Lyngdal include Austad,

Byremo Byremo is a village in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the north end of the lake Øvre Øydnevatn, about north of the village of Konsmo. Byremo was also the administrative centre An administrative cent ...

Fleseland Fleseland is a small village in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the west shore of the Lenesfjorden, about southeast of the town of Lyngdal and about north of the village of Høllen in Lindesnes municipal ...

, Hæåk,

Konsmo Konsmo is a village in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located south of the lake Ytre Øydnavatnet along the Audna river in the Audnedalen valley. The Konsmo Church is located in the village. The small village of H ...

Korshamn Korshamn or Korshavn is a fishing village in the southern part of Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the island of Revøy, located at the mouth of the Grønsfjorden. Korshamn lies about south of the villag ...

, Kvås,

Skomrak Skomrak is a village in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located near the northern end of the Rosfjorden, about south of the town of Lyngdal. The village of Svenevik lies about straight west across the fjord. The S ...

Svenevik Svenevik is a village in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located along the Rosfjorden, about south of the town of Lyngdal. The small village of Skomrak is located about straight east across the fjord. The village ...

, and Vivlemo. The municipal economy centers around

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

is also central to the community, with the beaches along the

Lyngdalsfjorden Lyngdalsfjorden is a fjord in Agder county, Norway. The fjord begins at the village of Alleen in Lyngdal municipality and it flows southwest into Farsund municipality before emptying into the North Sea just south of the town of Farsund i ...

and

Rosfjorden The Rosfjord or Rosfjorden is a fjord in Lyngdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The long fjord runs from the town of Lyngdal to the North Sea in the south. The Austad peninsula lies on the east side of the fjord, with the village of Aust ...

being popular resorts during the summer. The municipality is the 177th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Lyngdal is the 108th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 10,480. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is and its population has increased by 9.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of ''Aa'' was established as the municipality of Lyngdal on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1909, the municipality was split into three: Austad in the south (population: 1,263), Kvås in the north (population: 736) and Lyngdal in the central area (population: 2,698). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Austad (population: 608), Kvås (population: 493), Lyngdal (population: 2,916) as well as the Gitlevåg area (population: 103) in

Spangereid Spangereid is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1889 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality was located in the southwestern part of the present-day municipali ...

municipality, west of Lenesfjorden, were all merged to form one large municipality of Lyngdal. On 1 January 1971, the Ytre Skarstein and Indre Skarstein areas of Lyngdal (population: 21) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of

Farsund is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Farsund. Farsund is a coastal municipality in the far southwestern part of Norway, b ...

. On 1 January 2001, the municipality of Lyngdal declared that the municipal centre of Alleen would be a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

called '' Lyngdal''. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of

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 Lyngdal merged into a new, larger municipality called ''Lyngdal''.

Name

The municipality is named after the Lyngdalen valley in which the municipality is located. The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

form of the name was ''Lygnudalr''. The first element is the genitive case of the river name '' Lygna'' and the last element is ''dalr'' which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

" or "dale". The river name is derived from ''logn'' which means "quietness" and so the meaning is "the quiet one". Prior to 1908, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

(but not the municipality) of Lyngdal was called ''Aa'', named after the vicarage. The name of the vicarage was first mentioned in 1312 as "a Am", the dative plural of ''á'' which means '(small) river'. The farm lies between two rivers.

Coat of arms

The current

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was approved for use starting on 1 January 2020. The arms are green with a white tree on top of three wavy lines. The tree symbolizes growth. It has nine leaves symbolizing the nine main population centres within Lyngdal. The wavy lines represent waves and meadows. There are three lines to represent the three large rivers in the municipality as well. The old

was granted on 27 March 1987 and in use until 1 January 2020. The arms are green with a white

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

facing left in the center. The local breed of cows () is very well known in Norway and at the yearly cattle fair traders from all over Southern and Western Norway visit the municipality. Lyngdal komm.svg, Current arms since 2020 Lyngdal gamle våpen.svg, Arms from 1987 to 2019

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes () within the municipality of Lyngdal. It is part of the Lister og Mandal prosti ( deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

History

The island of Sælør on the southern coast of the municipality is mentioned in Snorre, as the king

Saint Olav Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...

spent a winter here in 1028. Based around the port of Agnefest, Lyngdal prospered on maritime trade, and in 1771 an application was made for status as a small coastal town. Its coastal location also facilitated emigration; in the 17th and 18th century largely to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

, and in the 19th century to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Even before the merger of the municipalities in 1964, the

es of Austad and Kvås, together with Å (or ''Aa'' - Lyngdal proper), made up the greater Lyngdal parish. A census from 1801 showed 3529 inhabitants in the area that today makes up Lyngdal: 1850 in Å, 929 in Austad, 585 in Kvås and 165 in the eastern part of Spangereid. The number today is approximately 8000 inhabitants. Religious life and missionary work have always had a strong position in Lyngdal, and worthy of special note is the minister Gabriel Kielland (1796–1854), who served in the parish from 1837 to 1854, and his wife Gustava (1800–1889). Known today as a missionary pioneer and a popular songwriter, Gustava also wrote one of the first autobiographies by a woman in Norway: her "''Reminiscence from my Life''" from 1880.

Geography

Lyngdal natural harbour Agnefest harbour official registered since 1771 - Norway Foto Wolfgang Pehlemann IMG 9432

Lyngdal is a coastal municipality that and borders

Lindesnes Lindesnes ( en, the Naze) is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mandal. Other villages in Lindesnes include Åvik, Hølle ...

municipality to the east, Evje og Horness and

Åseral Åseral is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kyrkjebygda. Other villages in Åseral include Eikerapen, Kylland, Ljosland, a ...

to the north,

Hægebostad Hægebostad is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingvatn. Other villages in Hægebostad include Eiken, Haddeland, and ...

and

Kvinesdal Kvinesdal is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Liknes. Other villages in Kvinesdal include Feda, Fjotland, and Storekvin ...

and

to the west. Lyngdal municipality includes the southern portion of the Lyngdalen valley which follows the river Lygna to the

in the west. The Lenesfjorden, Grønsfjorden, and

also are located in the southern part of Lyngdal. As part of Lyngdal village there is Agnefest on site in the south with a natural harbour at Rosfjorden; the harbour is registered since 1771.

Climate

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Lyngdal, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

and other social services,

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

. The municipality falls under the Agder District Court and the

Agder Court of Appeal The Agder Court of Appeal ( no, Agder lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the town of Skien. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestfold og Telemark and Agder (except for Si ...

Municipal council

The

() of Lyngdal is made up of 29 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

breakdown is as follows:

Transportation

Bus lines from/through Lyngdal Bus Terminal:

Notable people

* Teis Lundegaard (1774 in Austad – 1856) a Norwegian farmer, shipowner and politician * Abraham Berge (1851 in Lyngdal – 1936) politician,

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

1923 to 1924 * Kristian Andvord (1855 in Lyngdal – 1934) a physician and medical researcher into

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

* Theodore Abrahamson (1900 in Lyngdal - 1978) dairy farmer and politician; Mayor of Tigerton, Wisconsin * Kjell Elvis (born 1968) a Norwegian professional

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

impersonator, lives in Lyngdal

Sport

Ingvild Stensland Ingvild Stensland (born 3 August 1981) is a former Norwegian footballer who, from August 2022, is one of the assistance coaches on Norway women's national team. As a player she last played for Stabæk FK in the Toppserien. She played as a mid ...

(born 1981) footballer, 144 caps for Norway women, grew up in Lyngdal * Stefan Strandberg (born 1990 in Lyngdal) a footballer with 230 club caps and 12 for

* Zlatko Tripić (born 1992) a Norwegian-Bosnian footballer with over 200 club caps, grew up in Lyngdal

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Municipal website
{{use dmy dates, date=December 2020 Municipalities of Agder 1838 establishments in Norway