Sannidal is a former municipality in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

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 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960. The area is now part of

Kragerø Municipality Kragerø () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. Villages in Kragerø include Hell ...

. 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 ...

was the village of Kil where the

Sannidal Church Sannidal Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kragerø Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Sannidal. It is the church for the Sannidal parish which is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) i ...

is located. Sannidal Municipality was located just inland from the town of Kragerø. The main population centre of Sannidal was the village of Kil, which is situated at the end of the Kilsfjord. For this reason it was one of the earliest settlements in the area, being an important link between the sea and the land. The village was important for both exports and imports since the boat was the main means of transport at the time. Exports of timber dating from 1600s-1700s gave the area a good income and made Kil the first commercial center for Sannidal and surrounding country.

History

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 ''Sannikedal'' (later spelled ''Sandøkedal'' or ''Sannidal'') 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 ...

law). On 1 January 1861, an area of Sandøkedal (population: 857) that was adjacent to the growing town of Kragerø was

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

and transferred from Sandøkedal to Kragerø. On 1 January 1882, the southeastern coastal and island areas of the municipality (population: 3,907) were separated to form the new Skaatø Municipality. This left Sandøkedal with 2,186 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1960, Sannidal Municipality (population: 2,604) was merged with the neighboring Skåtøy Municipality (population: 3,208) and the neighboring town of Kragerø (population: 4,638).

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the ''Sannidal'' valley () since the first

was built there. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the word which means "an increase of sand". This is likely referring to some sandbanks. 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". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Sannikedal''. In 1857, the spelling was changed to ''Sandøkedal''. In 1889, the name was changed back to ''Sannikedal''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Sannidal''.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was 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,

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

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. During its existence, this municipality was 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 ...

was

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.

Mayors

The

mayors 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 ...

() of Sannidal (incomplete list): *1871-1874: Peder Rinde ( V) *1879-1882: Peder Rinde ( V) *1945-1955: Eigil Liane ( Ap)

Municipal council

The

of Sannidal was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the 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 ...

References