Stjørdalen is a valley and a traditional district in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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 valley follows the Stjørdalselva river from the Norway-

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

border to the west where it empties into the

Trondheimsfjorden The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's List of Norwegian fjords, third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from Ørl ...

. The valley traverses Stjørdal Municipality and

Meråker Municipality Meråker is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda which is about west of Storlien in Sweden and east of the town of Stjø ...

. The European route E14 highway and the Meråker Line railway follow the river through the length of the valley. The traditional district of Stjørdalen is a historical region surrounding the Stjørdalen valley. The area is sometimes considered the southern part of the

Inntrøndelag Inntrøndelag or Inn-Trøndelag is a Districts of Norway, traditional district that encompasses the central part of Trøndelag county in Norway. It usually includes the area surrounding the inner part of the Trondheimsfjord. It is often used interch ...

region. The neighboring

Selbu Municipality Selbu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Trøndelag, Flora, Fossan ...

and

Tydal Municipality Tydal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Neadalen/ Tydalen valley. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. Other villages include Østby, Græsli, Aungrenda, and Stugudalen. There ...

to the south are sometimes grouped together in this historic district. From the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

through 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 ...

, the area was referred to as , one of the small petty kingdoms in the

region under the Frostating assembly.

History

On 1 January 1838, the whole valley-district was established as Stjørdalen Municipality under the newly passed

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 ...

. In 1850, however, the large municipality was divided to create the two new municipalities: Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality and Nedre Stjørdalen Municipality. Later, in 1874, Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality was split into Hegra Municipality and

. On 1 January 1901, Nedre Stjørdalen Municipality was divided into three municipalities of nearly equal sizes: Skatval Municipality, Stjørdal Municipality, and Lånke Municipality. At this point, there were now five municipalities in the valley. 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 1962, Hegra Municipality, Skatval Municipality, Stjørdal Municipality, and Lånke Municipality were merged to form the new Stjørdal Municipality. On 1 June 1997, the village of

Stjørdalshalsen Stjørdalshalsen or Stjørdal (nickname: ''Halsen'') is a town and the administrative centre of Stjørdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located between the rivers Stjørdalselva and Gråelva to the south and north and by th ...

in Stjørdal Municipality gained status as a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

. Currently, the combined population of Stjørdal Municipality and Meråker Municipality is 21,738.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stjordalen Districts of Trøndelag Stjørdal Meråker Valleys of Trøndelag