Oppland fylke | ||
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Oppland within Norway Oppland within Norway | ||
Country | Norway | |
County | Oppland | |
Region | Østlandet | |
County ID | NO-05 | |
Official language form | Neutral | |
Demonym | Opplending [1] | |
Administrative centre | Lillehammer | |
Government | ||
• Governor |
Kristin Hille Valla Senterpartiet (since 2001) | |
• County Mayor |
Audun Tron Arbeiderpartiet (since 2003) | |
Area (#5 in Norway, 7.82% of Norway's land area) | ||
• Total |
25,192 km2 (9,727 sq mi) | |
• Land | 23,787 km2 (9,184 sq mi) | |
Oppland (help·info) is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo, and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland and Hedmark are the only two landlocked counties of Norway.
Geography[]
Oppland extends from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen, and Rondane. The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland, and Land.
Oppland includes the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik Otta and Fagernes, and Norway's two highest mountains, Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen.
Several museums and other attractions are situated in Oppland, and tourism is important to the economy, Valdres and Gudbrandsdal being popular attractions. The Gudbrandsdal surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the villages Øyer, Dovre, and Dombås. Valdres includes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna river. It is a well known place for skiing and winter sports. The main population centres in this area are Beitostølen and Fagernes.
The name[]
In Norse times the inner parts of Norway was called Upplönd 'the upper countries'. The first element is upp 'upper'. The last element is lönd, 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 Kristians Amt (named after the king Christian VII) and Hedemarkens Amt. In 1919 the name Kristians Amt was changed (back) to Opland fylke, and the form Oppland was settled in 1950.
Coat-of-arms[]
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1989). It shows two Pulsatilla vernalis.
History[]
In the late Iron Age, Oppland was a petty kingdom.
Some kings of Oppland:
- Eystein, father of Åsa who married Halfdan Hvitbeinn (see Ynglinga Saga, paragraph 49)
- Halfdan "the Aged" Sveidasson (c. 750)
- Ivar Halfdansson (c. 770)
- Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson, son-in-law of Ragnvald the Mountain-High and father of Ragnvald Eysteinsson (788)
Municipalities[]
Oppland County has a total of 26 municipalities:
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External links[]
Media related to Oppland at Wikimedia Commons
References[]
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg". Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskriving_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn. (Norwegian)
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This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Oppland. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |