Rendalen 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' ...

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

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 ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the village of

Bergset Bergset is the administrative centre of Rendalen Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located on the western shore of the river Renaelva, about north of the village of Otnes in the largely rural Østerdalen valley. The vi ...

. Other villages in the municipality include Hanestad, Otnes, Sjølisand, Unset, Åkre, and Åkrestrømmen. The municipality is the 13th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Rendalen is the 292nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,846. The municipality's

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 ...

is and its population has decreased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Rendalen was established on 1 January 1965 when the old

Ytre Rendal Municipality Ytre Rendal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1880 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Rendalen Municipality in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administra ...

(population: 1,913) and Øvre Rendal Municipality (population: 1,629) were merged. On 1 January 1984, the unpopulated Spekedalen valley was transferred from

Tynset Municipality Tynset 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 Tynset (town), ...

to Rendalen. Historically, the municipality was part of

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 ...

county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed

county (after

and

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway 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, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

counties were merged).

Name

The municipality (originally 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 ...

) is named after the Rendalen valley () which is located in the municipality. The first element is which means "

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

". The last element is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing 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 over ...

" or "dale". The river Rena runs through the valley and it is not known if the valley was named after the river or if the river was named after the valley. A nearby mountain Renafjellet also has a similar name.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 2 June 1989. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Azure, two reindeer heads

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

in pale"'' (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is two

heads. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design symbolizes the importance of reindeer farming in the community. The arms are a canting since the name Rendalen is derived from the word for reindeer. There are two heads to represent Øvre Rendal Municipality and

which were merged in 1965 to form this municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has four parishes () within Rendalen Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

Geography

The municipality has an area of which makes it the 2nd largest municipality (after

Ullensvang Municipality Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd, ...

) in

Southern Norway Southern Norway (; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical List of regions of Norway, region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function ...

. The 11 largest municipalities are all in rural

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

and they are followed by Ullensvang and Rendalen. Rendalen municipality is bordered on the northwest by Alvdal Municipality and

, in the north by Tolga Municipality, in the east by

Engerdal Municipality Engerdal 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 of E ...

, in the south by

Trysil Municipality Trysil 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 of Inn ...

and

Åmot Municipality Åmot 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 of Rena ...

, and in the west by

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 ...

. Rendalen municipality encompasses most of the Rendalen valley, a side valley of the large

valley which dominates

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...

. In addition, the municipality encompasses the northern part of the lake Storsjøen as well as the lakes Sølensjøen, Galtsjøen, Harrsjøen, and Lomnessjøen. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Sølen. Another notable mountain in the municipality is Elgspiggen. The rivers

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 ...

and Renaelva both flow through the municipality.

Government

Rendalen Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

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

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Rendalen Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Rendalen Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: *1965–1967: Erik Husfloen ( Ap) *1968–1977:

Kjell Borgen Kjell Borgen (21 October 1939 – 22 August 1996) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1986 to 1988, Minister of Local Government from 1988 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1 ...

( Ap) *1978–1979: Otto Tobro ( Ap) *1980–1991: Steinar Berget ( Ap) *1992–1995: Sindre Undseth ( Ap) *1995–2007: Erling Myhre ( Sp) *2007–2019: Norvald Illevold ( Ap) *2019–present: Linda Døsen ( Ap)

Economy

The primary occupations are in

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckstourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is also important. The Renåfjellet mountain area provides for excellent alpine

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

Notable people

Johan Reinhardt Johannes Christopher Hagemann Reinhardt (23 December 1778 – 31 October 1845), sometimes called J. C. H. Reinhardt, was a professor in zoology at the University of Copenhagen. Born in Rendal Municipality, Rendalen parish in Norway, his father, J ...

(1778 in Rendalen – 1845), a professor of zoology at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

Gustav Storm Gustav Storm (18 June 1845 – 23 February 1903) was a Norwegians, Norwegian historian, a professor at the University of Oslo, Royal Frederick University in Oslo, Christiania from 1877. He was a driving force in the research of Scandinavian ...

(1845 in Rendalen – 1903), a historian and academic * Jacob Breda Bull (1853 in Rendalen – 1930), an author, journalist, and editor * David P. Kvile (1861–1918), a teacher, farmer, politician and teacher in Øvre Rendal * Peder E. Vorum (1884–1970), an educator, politician, mayor of Ytre Rendal from 1913 to 1934, member of

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

in 1940, and collaborator during WWII who was convicted of treason in 1948 * Ottar E. Akre (1896 in Ytre Rendal – 1992), an accordionist, composer, and educator * Sigurd Akre-Aas (1897 in Ytre Rendal – 1968), a fencer who competed at the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

* Oddbjørn Hagen (1908 in Ytre Rendal – 1983), a skier who competed at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

, gold medal winner in the

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics in ...

, and twice silver medalist in cross-country skiing *

(1939–1996), a politician, former Minister of Transport, and secondary school teacher in Rendalen from 1962 to 1966 * Ola Otnes (born 1951 in Rendalen), an actor * Guren Hagen, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1959 in Rendalen), a musician

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Rendalen has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

agreements with the following places: * -

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

Region Nordjylland The North Jutland Region (), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the traditional counties () an ...

, Denmark * -

Liperi Liperi () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region. Liperi is a community of () with the growth rate of 83 newcomers in 11 months in 2007. The population density is . T ...

, Itä-Suomi, Finland * - Orsa,

Dalarna County Dalarna County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark and Trøndelag to ...

, Sweden

Media gallery

Hanestadnea kraftverk.JPG, Hanestadnea kraftverk Øvre Rendal (4256473462).jpg, Øvre Rendal Rendalen kraftverk.JPG, Rendalen kraftverk

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 ...

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Innlandet Valleys of Innlandet 1965 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1965