Oppland is a former county in

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 ...

which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane,

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 ...

, Akershus,

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 ...

and

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

. The county administration was located in the town of Lillehammer.

Merger

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring counties of Oppland and

were merged to form the new

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. Both Oppland and Hedmark were the only landlocked counties of

, and the new Innlandet county is the only landlocked county in Norway. The two counties had historically been one county that was divided in 1781. Historically, the region was commonly known as " Opplandene". In 1781, the government split the area into two: Hedemarkens amt and Kristians amt (later renamed

and Oppland). In 2017, the government approved the merger of the two counties. There were several names debated, but the government settled on ''

''.

Geography

Oppland extended from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen and Rondane. Gråhøe is a mountain on the border between the municipalities of Sel and Dovre in Oppland. The county was conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are the Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland and

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

. Oppland included the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik, Otta, and Fagernes, and Norway's two highest mountains, Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen, Valdres and the Gudbrand Valley being popular attractions. The Gudbrand Valley surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna River. It is a well known place for

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and winter sports. The main population centres in this area were Beitostølen and Fagernes. Eight of the ten highest mountains in Norway are located in the western part of Oppland.

Etymology

In Norse times the inner parts of Norway were called '' Upplǫnd'' which means 'the upper countries'. The first element is ''upp'' which means 'upper'. The last element is ''lǫnd'' which is the plural form of 'land'. In 1757, the inner parts of the great Akershus amt were separated and given the name ''Oplandenes Amt''. This was divided in 1781 into ''Christians Amt'' (named after the king Christian VII) and '' Hedemarkens Amt''. The name/form was changed to ''Kristians Amt'' in 1877 after an official spelling reform that changed ch to k (see also Kristiania,

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

and Kristiansund). In 1919, the name ''Kristians Amt'' was changed (back) to ''Opland fylke'', and the spelling ''Oppland'' was approved in 1950.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted in 1989, and it showed two '' Pulsatilla vernalis''.

Municipalities

Oppland County (Christians Amt)

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 ...

Original spellings of counties and municipalities in parentheses. had a total of 26 municipalities:

Districts

* Begnadalen * Espedalen * Gudbrandsdalen * Hadeland * Heidal * Hunndalen *

* Toten * Valdres * Vestoppland

Cities

* Gjøvik * Lillehammer * Fagernes * Otta * Vinstra

Parishes

* Aulstad * Aurdal * Austsinni * Bagn * Balke * Begndal * Biri * Brandbu (Nes) * Bruflat * Bøverdal * Dovre * Eina * Etnedal * Fluberg * Follebu (Folleboe) * Fåberg * Fåvang (Fodevang) * Garmo * Gausdal * Gjøvik * Gran * Hedal * Hegge * Heidal * Hoff * Hunn * Hurum * Høre * Jevnaker * Kolbu * Kvam * Kvikne (Quiekne) * Land * Lesja (Læssø) * Lesjaskog * Lillehammer * Lom * Lomen (Røn, Røen) * Lunner * Mesna * Nes (Brandbu) * Nord-Aurdal * Nord-Fron * Nordberg * Nordre Etnedal * Nordre Land * Nordsinni (Hogner) * Nykirke * Reinli * Ringebu * Rogne * Røn (Røen) * Saksumdal * Sel *

Sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

* Skiåker * Skjåk * Skrautvål * Slidredomen * Snertingdal * St. Mary * St. Thomas * Strand * Svatsum * Svenes * Sødorp (Søthorp) * Søndre Land * Sør-Aurdal * Sør-Fron * Tingelstad * Torpa * Tretten (Trøtten) * Ulnes * Vang * Vardal * Venabygd * Vestre Gausdal * Vestre Slidre * Vestre Toten * Volbu *

Vågå Vågå () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

* Østre Gausdal * Østre Slidre * Østre Toten * Østsinni (Gårder) * Øye (Øie) * Øyer * Åmot * Ås

Villages

* Aurdal * Bagn * Begna * Beitostølen * Bismo * Biri * Bjoneroa * Bjorli * Bjølstad * Bjørgo * Brandbu * Brekkom * Bruflat * Bybrua * Bøverbru * Dale * Dokka * Dombås * Dovre * Egge * Eina * Fagernes * Fluberg * Follebu * Forset * Fåberg *

Fåvang Fåvang is a village in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer (town), Lillehammer. The European route E6 h ...

* Grotli * Grua * Harestua * Harpefoss * Hjerkinn * Hov * Høvringen * Jaren * Jevnaker * Kapp * Kolbu * Kvam * Lalm * Leira * Lena * Lensbygda * Lesjaskog * Lesjaverk * Lora * Moane * Nordlia * Odnes * Raufoss * Reinsvoll * Ringstad *

Røn Røn is a village in Vestre Slidre Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway.The village is located where the Slidrefjorden and the Strondafjorden meet, about south of the village of Slidre. The European route E16 highway runs through the v ...