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Vang Municipality Vang kommune
Municipality
FlagCoat of arms
Innlandet within Norway
Vang within Innlandet
Coordinates: 61°12′52″N 8°30′15″E / 61.21444°N 8.50417°E / 61.21444; 8.50417
Country	Norway
County	Innlandet
District	Valdres
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Vang i Valdres
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Jørand Ødegård Lunde (BL)
Area
• Total	1,505.46 km (581.26 sq mi)
• Land	1,309.98 km (505.79 sq mi)
• Water	195.51 km (75.49 sq mi)  13%
• Rank	#55 in Norway
Population
• Total	1,636
• Rank	#298 in Norway
• Density	1.2/km (3/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+2.4%
Demonym	Vangsgjelding
Official language
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3454
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, Øye, Ryfoss, and Tyinkrysset.

The 1,505-square-kilometre (581 sq mi) municipality is the 55th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vang is the 298th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,636. The municipality's population density is 1.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.1/sq mi) and its population has increased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

On 1 January 1838, the prestegjeld of Vang was established as a civil municipality (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1882, a small area of Vang (population: 31) was transferred into the neighboring Øystre Slidre Municipality. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vang farm (Old Norse: Vangr) since the first Vang Church was built there. The name is identical to the word vangr which means "field" or "meadow".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted by royal decree on 26 June 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, within a tressure floury three swords bendwise Or" (Norwegian: På blå grunn tre skråstilte gull sverd omgjevne av gull liljebord). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three diagonal swords. The arms also have a border line with fleur-de-lis designs (tressure floury) going around the edge of the arms. The charge and border have a tincture of Or which means they are commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms are based on historic descriptions and depictions of the personal arms the a local medieval nobleman Sigvat of Leirhol. He was named as one of the members of the delegation that followed King Håkon V Magnusson to Copenhagen in 1309. Later, he became the local governor of Valdres and Hallingdal (Vang is part of the Valdres region). He played a major role in the development of the region and the arms can be seen on different places, including in the local Vang Church. 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 four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Vang. It is part of the Valdres prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

History

Vang, like the rest of Valdres, was originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet. In 1153, recognizing this, Cardinal Breakspear included these valleys in the Diocese of Stavanger.

The ancient Vang Church was the site of a legal court (thing) held by King Haakon VI in 1368. Here, he settled a boundary dispute. The boundary stone which resulted stands to this day.

High up the slopes of Filefjell is the site of Nystuen, where travellers found refuge as they passed across the divide into Vestlandet. On the other side of the pass, Maristua was erected at the direction of Queen Margaret c. 1390. Although Nystuen is first mentioned in 1627, it is undoubtedly older. These refuges were maintained by the state until 1830.

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Vang by country of origin in 2017

Ancestry	Number
Poland	55
Lithuania	44
Syria	25

Smeddalen (Smith's Valley) immediately to the west of Nystuen, was for centuries the site of the church of St. Thomas på Filefjell. The earliest reference to it is in 1615, but it was apparently a stave church, so would have been much older. According to F.N. Stagg "It was reconditioned (c. 1615)… the priest at Vang preached there once a year–on July 2nd… many sought cures for their ailments in the miraculous powers possessed by splinters from its timbers…" A market grew up near the church as a result of the 2 July service. "Horses were traded, races run, heavy drinking indulged in and many a fight ensued." Markets continued to be held near the church until the 19th century, but as a result of fighting and general unrest in connection with the market days the church was torn down in 1808. A new church was built on the site in 1971.

Government

Vang 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 Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vang 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.

Mayors

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Vang (incomplete list):

• 1945-1945: Helge Ellingbø (LL)
• 1945-1945: Endre Holien (LL)
• 1946-1948: Torstein Hamre (LL)
• 1948-1952: Nils Thune (LL)
• 1952-1959: John Opdal (LL)
• 1960-1968: Ove W. Kvien (LL)
• 1968-1975: Jørgen Garstad (LL)
• 1976–1995: Erling Øraker (Sp)
• 1996-2011: Knut Haalien (Sp)
• 2011–2023: Vidar Eltun (Ap)
• 2023-present: Jørand Ødegård Lunde (LL)

Geography

Vang is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Lom and Vågå, to the east by Øystre Slidre, to the southeast by Vestre Slidre, to the south by Hemsedal (in Buskerud county), and to the west by Lærdal and Årdal (in Vestland county).

Vang is part of the Valdres region in central, southern Norway. This region is situated between the Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal valleys.

Vang municipality is 56 kilometres (35 mi) on a north–south axis and 47.3 kilometres (29.4 mi) on an east–west axis. The highest point is Kalvehøgde with a height of 2,208 metres (7,244.1 ft) above sea level.

Three-quarters of the region is above 900 metres (3,000 ft). About 13 percent of the municipality is covered by water, including Lakes Fleinsendin, Slettningen and Vangsmjøsa. The lowest point is 363 metres (1,191 ft) above sea level. The river Begna has its headwaters in the Filefjell area of Vang.

Attractions

• The Vang stone
• The Ryfossen waterfall
• The Sputrefossen waterfall

Gallery

• St. Thomas Church
• Highway E16
• Lake Vangsmjøsa
• Tyin lake

Trivia

The Veblen and Bunde farmsteads were the homes of the parents of Thorstein Bunde Veblen, from where they emigrated a year before the birth of their son.

Notable people

• Christopher Andreas Holmboe (1796 in Vang – 1882), a philologist, orientalist, and numismatist
• Johannes Belsheim (1829 in Thorpegardane – 1909), a teacher, priest, translator, and biographer
• Nils Nilsen Thune (1880 in Vang – 1950), a Norwegian jurist and civil servant
• Torstein Høverstad (1880 in Vang – 1959), an educator, teacher educator, school historian, and government scholar

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. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2022). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
5. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2022). "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
6. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
7. Rygh, Oluf (1902). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (anden halvdel) (in Norwegian) (4-2 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 308 and 313.
8. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
9. "Vang, Oppland (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
10. "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 26 June 1987. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
11. "Vang Municipality". GoNorway.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
12. ^ Stagg, Frank Noel (1956). East Norway and its Frontier. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.
13. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
14. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
15. "Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Innlandet". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
16. "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Innlandet". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
17. "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2015 - Oppland". Valgdirektoratet.
18. ^ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
19. "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Oppland". Valgdirektoratet.
20. Kommunestyrevalget 1999 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 2000. ISBN 8253748531. ISSN 0332-8023.
21. Kommunestyrevalget 1995 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. ISBN 8253743351. ISSN 0332-8023.
22. Kommunestyrevalget 1991 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. ISBN 8253737939. ISSN 0332-8023.
23. Kommunestyrevalget 1987 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. ISBN 8253726325. ISSN 0332-8023.
24. Kommunestyrevalget 1983 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. ISBN 8253720378. ISSN 0332-8023.
25. Kommunestyrevalget 1979 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. ISBN 8253710836. ISSN 0332-8023.
26. Kommunevalgene 1975 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. ISBN 8253705646.
27. Kommunevalgene 1972 (PDF) (in Norwegian). Vol. I. Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. ISBN 8253701144.
28. "Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967.
29. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964.
30. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960.
31. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957.
32. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952.
33. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948.
34. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947.
35. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938.
36. "Ordførar". Vang kommune (in Norwegian). Retrieved 13 January 2024.

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Municipal site (in Norwegian)

v t e Innlandet county, Norway
Main article: Innlandet Capitals: Hamar; Lillehammer County government: Innlandet County Municipality County lists: County Governors Villages Churches
	Towns and cities	Lillehammer (1827) Hamar (1849) Kongsvinger (1854) Gjøvik (1861) Elverum (1996) Otta (2000) Fagernes (2007) Brumunddal (2010) Moelv (2010) Vinstra (2013)
	Municipalities	Gudbrandsdalen Dovre Gausdal Lesja Lillehammer Lom Nord-Fron Ringebu Sel Skjåk Sør-Fron Vågå Øyer Valdres Etnedal Nord-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal Vang Vestre Slidre Øystre Slidre Vestoppland Gjøvik Gran Nordre Land Søndre Land Vestre Toten Østre Toten Glåmdal Eidskog Grue Kongsvinger Nord-Odal Sør-Odal Våler Åsnes Hedmarka Hamar Løten Ringsaker Stange Østerdalen Alvdal Elverum Engerdal Folldal Os Rendalen Stor-Elvdal Tolga Trysil Tynset Åmot
	Former Municipalities in Innlandet Hedmark   Brandval (1867-1964) Furnes (1891-1964) Hof (1838-1963) Kvikne (1838-1966) Nes (1838-1964) Rendal (1838-1880) Romedal (1838-1964) Sollia (1864-1965) Tolga-Os (1966-1976) Vang (1838-1992) Vinger (1838-1964) Ytre Rendal (1880-1965) Øvre Rendal (1880-1965) Aasnes og Vaaler (1849-1854) Oppland   Biri (1838-1964) Brandbu (1897-1962) Eina (1908-1964) Fluberg (1914-1962) Fron (1838-1851, 1966-1977) Fåberg (1838-1964) Heidal (1908-1965) Kolbu (1908-1964) Land (1838-1847) Slidre (1838-1849) Snertingdal (1910-1964) Sollia (1864-1965) Torpa (1914-1962) Vardal (1838-1964) Vestre Gausdal (1879-1962) Østre Gausdal (1879-1962) Note: The former counties of Hedmark and Oppland were merged to form Innlandet on 1 January 2020.

• Vang, Innlandet
• Municipalities of Innlandet
• Valdres
• 1838 establishments in Norway
• Populated places established in 1838