Ål is a

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

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is part of the

traditional region A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of ''Aal'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

). The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Aal in 1877 to become a separate municipality.

Geography

80% of Ål municipality is at least above sea level. The highest point is Raudbergnuten at .

Reineskarvet 275 px, Reineskarvet Reineskarvet is a significant mountain in the municipality of Ål in Buskerud, Norway. It is located in the Skarvheimen highland area between Jotunheimen and Hardangervidda, on the north side of Hallingdalen, west of Hems ...

, the significant mountain of Ål has a summit of . In the winter, Ål has over of maintained cross country ski trails. Ål borders the municipalities of Hol, Gol,

Hemsedal Hemsedal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym ...

, Nes,

Nore og Uvdal Nore og Uvdal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rødberg. The area of ''Nore'' was separated from the municipality of ...

, and Lærdal. The

Bergen Line The Bergen Line, or the Bergen Railway ( or ), is a long scenic overlook, scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied to the entire route from Bergen to Oslo, including the Randsfjord Line ...

, the rail line between Oslo and Bergen runs through Ål.

Ål Station Ål Station () is a railway station located at Ål, Norway. The station is served by up to six daily express trains operated by Vy Tog. The station was opened as part of the Bergen Line between Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalitie ...

has an elevation of and is the halfway station on the Bergen Line. Hallingdalselva runs in the bottom of the main valley, forming Strandafjorden, a long, narrow lake for several kilometers. Ål has several hydroelectric dams. Hallingdalselva runs partly in a tunnel from here to Nes municipality, where it drives a large turbine power plant.

Mountains

Djupeskardnosi Djupeskardnosi is a mountain in Ål municipality in Buskerud, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan ...

* Fossebreen * Haldalshøgdi * Haldalsnuten * Langebottfjellet * Lysebottnuten * Mellomnuten

General information

Approximately 5,000 inhabitants spread over several smaller villages including Ål, Torpo, Leveld, Vats, Trillhus, Granhagen, Breie and Strand. There is a strong cultural tradition, with folk music being a big part of people's identity. Folkemusikkveka is held every May for a week. The traditional industry of Ål is mostly small-farming. Many livestock farms are still in operation with small herds of sheep, dairy cattle, and goats. Crop growing is difficult because of the steep valley walls, but wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes have all been grown in the past. The award-winning local paper ''

Hallingdølen ''Hallingdølen'' is a Norwegian-language local newspaper published in Ål, Norway, which serves Hallingdal. Profile was established in 1936. The paper is not owned by one of the large media conglomerates. It was founded by community members. ...

'' has offices in the village of Ål. It comes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Ål has a Videregående school and a Folkehøyskole for deaf students.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was ''Áll''. The name is identical with the word ''áll'' which means "

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

" or "

gully A gully is a landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given ter ...

". In 1921, the spelling of the name was changed from ''"Aal"'' to ''"Ål"''.

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

is from modern times. The arms were granted on 30 November 1984 and show three silver diamond shapes in a vertical line on a red background. The designs are taken from an old and common pattern used in hand-woven tapestries in the area. They also symbolize the three churches in the municipality: Ål, Torpo, and Leveld.

Attractions

* Torpo Stave Church (built around 1190–1200) is located in Torpo *

Ål Bygdamuseum Ål Bygdamuseum, a small museum on the farm Leksvol in Ål municipality in Buskerud, Norway, is a subsidiary of Hallingdal Museum Hallingdal Museum Nesbyen (formerly Hallingdal Folkemuseum) is an open-air museum at Nesbyen in Buskerud, Buskerud c ...

is built around the old Leksvol farm, and is typical of the area. The buildings go back to the 17th century. In later years the museum gained additional buildings, ''Øvre tunet'', ''Stølen'', and ''Husmannsplassen'', where a stone cottage has been reconstructed, similar to those used in the mountain ''sæter''. * Hallingdal feriepark, camping with high ropes course and activities * Ål Skisenter, downhill skiing facility

Notable people from Ål

* Hallgrim Berg (born 1945), folk musician and politician * Lars T. Bjella (1922–2013), politician, active in Ål local politics for 25 years * Stein Torleif Bjella (born 1968), songwriter, singer, and guitarist * Nils Terje Dalseide (1952–2018), judge and civil servant * Kristian Hefte (1905–1977), actor * Trond Helleland (born 1962), politician * Odd Hoftun (born 1927), engineer and missionary to Nepal * Eldbjørg Løwer (born 1943), politician * Mikkel Ødelien (1893–1984), scientist, educator and soil researcher * Einfrid Perstølen (1917–2017), psychiatrist and

Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

language proponent * Olle Eksell (born Carl Olof Lennart 1918–2007), graphic designer * Ambjørg Sælthun (1922–2012), farmer and politician * Ole Larsen Skattebøl (1844–1929), judge and politician *

Embrik Strand Embrik Strand (2 June 1876 – 3 November 1947) was an entomologist and arachnologist who classified many insect and spider species, including the greenbottle blue tarantula. Life and career Strand was born in Ål, Norway. He studied at t ...

(1876–1947),

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

Olav Thon Olav Thon (29 June 1923 – 16 November 2024) was a Norwegian real estate developer. His Olav Thon Group is Norway's largest private real estate company, with 450 properties, including 60 hotels. Thon began his career by selling animal fur shor ...

(1923-2024), real estate developer and billionaire

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Ål: * - Sololá,

Sololá Department __NOTOC__ Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It is located close to Lake Atitlan. The name is a Hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one sp ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Official Tourist Website

Folkemusikkveka
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aal Hallingdal Municipalities of Buskerud Villages in Buskerud