is a village in

Stor-Elvdal Municipality Stor-Elvdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village o ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

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 ...

. The village is located along the river

Glomma The Glomma or Glåma is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the river r ...

in the

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

valley. The Rørosbanen railway and the

Norwegian National Road 3 Norwegian National Road 3 (, Rv3) is a Norwegian national road that is the main route through the Østerdalen district in Eastern Norway. It has been dubbed which means 'the green shortcut' by the old Hedmark County Municipality. The route ru ...

both run through the village. The railway stops at Koppang Station. The village has several schools, shops, and a cultural center as well as a movie theater, library, bookstore, bank, and Koppang Church. The newspaper ''

Østerdølen ''Østerdølen'' () is a local Norwegian newspaper published in Stor-Elvdal Municipality in Innlandet county. The newspaper was established in August 1999 and is published once a week in Koppang. It covers events in the municipalities of Stor-El ...

'' has been published in Koppang since 1999. The settlement has a large modern sawmill that employs many residents. There are many opportunities for fitness trips in the area whether by skiing, riding or on foot. The village has a population (2024) of 1,006 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of .

History

From ancient times, people lived in the valley, but repeated flooding caused them to move higher up along its sides. Barns remain at Koppanjordet which have survived many floods. The Old King's Road () which went from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

runs through Koppang. It was used not only by the king and his entourage but also by pilgrims on their way to the

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral () is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II ( 995–1030, reigned 1015–1028), who became the patron saint of th ...

in Trondheim. The name comes from the medieval word ''

kaupang Kaupang was a Viking Age village that is generally considered to be the first town/marketplace in Norway. It is located near the present-day village of Tjøllingvollen in Larvik Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The village of ''Kaupang'' ...

'' which refers to the site of a market place which had been held here since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. From early on, the settlement had an old

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...

( Stor-Elvdal Church) at Koppanjordet, traces of which still remain. According to legend, the church was destroyed by a flood and the logs washed ashore in the shape of a cross at Kirkemoen. A new stave church was built on the site, dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

. The

Røros Line The Røros Line () is a rail transport, railway line which runs through the districts of Norway, districts of Hedmarken, Østerdalen, and Gauldalen in Innlandet and Trøndelag, Norway. The line branches off from the Dovre Line at Hamar Station ...

reached Koppang in 1875, the village being served by Koppang Station. From 1877 to 1885, the trains on the line had an overnight stop at Koppang, leading to increased commerce and an expansion of the settlement.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=March 2022 Stor-Elvdal Villages in Innlandet Populated places on the Glomma River