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Tokke Municipality Tokke kommune
Municipality
View of Dalen and Bandak
FlagCoat of arms
Telemark within Norway
Tokke within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°25′2″N 7°58′43″E / 59.41722°N 7.97861°E / 59.41722; 7.97861
Country	Norway
County	Telemark
District	Vest-Telemark
Established	1 Jan 1964
• Preceded by	Lårdal and Mo
Administrative centre	Dalen
Government
• Mayor (2015)	Jarand Felland (Sp)
Area
• Total	984.58 km (380.15 sq mi)
• Land	904.65 km (349.29 sq mi)
• Water	79.93 km (30.86 sq mi)  8.1%
• Rank	#117 in Norway
Population
• Total	2,198
• Rank	#268 in Norway
• Density	2.4/km (6/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−3.8%
Demonyms	Daling, Eidsboring, Lårdøl, Skafsåing, Tokkebu
Official language
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4034
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Tokke is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dalen. Other villages in Tokke include Åmdals Verk, Eidsborg, Høydalsmo, Lårdal, and Øvre Byrte. The Eidsborg Stave Church is one of Norway's old stave churches and it is located in Eidsborg, just north of Dalen.

The 985-square-kilometre (380 sq mi) municipality is the 117th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tokke is the 268th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,198. The municipality's population density is 2.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (6.2/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 3.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Lårdal (population: 1,929) and Mo (population: 1,658) were merged to form the new municipality of Tokke.

Name

The municipality is named after the local river Tokke (Old Norse: Þotka). The name is related to the name of the lake Totak (from which the river originates). The river name is probably derived from the Old Norse word þot meaning "roaring", "rushing", or "howling".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 6 February 1987. The official blazon is "Or a bear passant sable" (Norwegian: På gulll grunn ein gåande svart bjørn). This means the arms have a field (background) with a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a bear which is displayed with a tincture of sable which means it is black. The bear symbolizes the rich nature in the forests in the municipality. The bear also plays a major role in many local legends and stories. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Tokke. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Geography

Tokke Municipality is located in the Vest-Telemark region. It borders the municipalities of Vinje, Kviteseid, Seljord, Fyresdal (in Telemark) and the municipalities of Valle and Bykle (in Agder). The highest peak is Urdenosi which is 1,520 metres (4,990 ft) above sea level. Other mountains in Tokke including Brandsnutene, Gråsteinsnosi, Sæbyggjenuten, Stølsdalsnutane, and Svolhusgreini. The river Tokke and the lakes Bandak, Botnedalsvatn, and Byrtevatn are all located in the municipality as well.

Government

Tokke Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Tokke is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayor

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Tokke:

• 1964-1971: Gunvald Jupskås
• 1972-1979: Olav K. Tho
• 1980-1984: Gunvald Jupskås
• 1984-1987: Marie Sund
• 1988-1989: Geirmund Skaalen (H)
• 1990-2005: Birger Nygård (Sp)
• 2005-2011: Olav Seltveit Urbø (Sp)
• 2011-2015: Hilde Alice Vågslid (Ap)
• 2015–present: Jarand Felland (Sp)

Notable people

• Talleiv Huvestad (1761 in Skafså – 1847), a teacher, farmer, and politician
• Søren Georg Abel (1772 in Mo – 1820), a priest and politician
• Jens Matthias Pram Kaurin (1804 in Lårdal – 1863), a theology professor and Lutheran priest
• Marcus Jacob Monrad (1816–1897), a philosopher and academic who grew up in Mo
• Vetle Vislie (1858 in Skafså – 1933), a educationalist, writer, and politician
• Alf Blütecher (1880 in Lårdal – 1959), an actor
• Thomas Offenberg Backer (1892 in Mo – 1987), an engineer
• Andreas Backer (1895 in Mo – 1975), a journalist and newspaper editor
• Anne Grimdalen (1899 in Skafså – 1961), a sculptor
• Eivind Groven (1901 in Eidsborg – 1977), a microtonal composer and music-theorist
• Arvid Torgeir Lie (1938 in Skafså – 2020), a poet, short story writer, and translator
• Lene Vågslid (born 1986 in Tokke), a teacher and politician

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
3. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
4. ^ Nilsen, Jan Erik; Mæhlum, Lars; Lundbo, Sten; Helleve, Eirik, eds. (30 June 2022). "Tokke". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
5. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
6. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
7. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
8. Rygh, Oluf (1914). Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt (in Norwegian) (7 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 39.
9. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
10. "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 6 February 1987. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
11. "Tokke, Telemark (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
12. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
13. "Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Telemark". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
14. "Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Vestfold og Telemark". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
15. "Kommunestyrevalg 2015 - Telemark". Valgdirektoratet.
16. ^ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
17. "Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Telemark". Valgdirektoratet.
18. Kommunestyrevalget 1999 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 2000. ISBN 8253748531. ISSN 0332-8023.
19. Kommunestyrevalget 1995 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. ISBN 8253743351. ISSN 0332-8023.
20. Kommunestyrevalget 1991 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. ISBN 8253737939. ISSN 0332-8023.
21. Kommunestyrevalget 1987 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. ISBN 8253726325. ISSN 0332-8023.
22. Kommunestyrevalget 1983 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. ISBN 8253720378. ISSN 0332-8023.
23. Kommunestyrevalget 1979 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. ISBN 8253710836. ISSN 0332-8023.
24. Kommunevalgene 1975 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. ISBN 8253705646.
25. Kommunevalgene 1972 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Vol. I. Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. ISBN 8253701144.
26. "Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967.
27. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964.
28. "Ordførar". Tokke kommune (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
29. Alf Blütecher at IMDb. Retrieved 12 November 2020.

External links

• Media related to Tokke at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of Tokke at Wiktionary
• Telemark travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Description of Tokke

v t e Telemark county, Norway
Main article: Telemark Capital: Skien County government: Telemark County Municipality County lists: County Governors Villages Churches
	Towns and cities	Skien (1358) Porsgrunn (1652) Kragerø (1666) Langesund (1765) Stathelle (1774) Brevik (1845) Notodden (1912) Rjukan (1996)
	Municipalities	Grenland/Vestmar Bamble Drangedal Kragerø Porsgrunn Siljan Skien Øvre Telemark Fyresdal Hjartdal Kviteseid Midt-Telemark Nissedal Nome Notodden Seljord Tinn Tokke Vinje
	Former Municipalities in Telemark Brevik (1838–1964) Bø (1838–2020) Eidanger (1838–1964) Gjerpen (1838–1964) Gransherad (1860–1964) Heddal (1838–1964) Holla (1838–1964) Hovin (1886–1964) Langesund (1838–1964) Lunde (1867–1964) Lårdal (1838–1964) Mo (1838–1964) Rauland (1860–1964) Sannidal (1838–1960) Sauherad (1838–2020) Skåtøy (1882–1960) Solum (1838–1964) Stathelle (1838–1964)

• Tokke
• Municipalities of Telemark
• 1964 establishments in Norway