Drangedal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestestranda. Other villages in Drangedal include Bø i Tørdal, Bostrak, Gautefall, Henseid, and Neslandsvatn. The 1063 km2 municipality is the 106th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Drangedal is the 200th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,091. The municipality's population density is 4.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 1.2% over the previous 10-year period. The administrative centre, Prestestranda, is situated by Lake Toke. The municipal government is located there along with primary and secondary schools, shopping facilities, and a bank. Drangedal railway station is also located in Prestestranda and is served by the Oslo to Kristiansand Sørlandsbannen railway line. It was formerly connected to the Kragerø railway line, but that was closed in 1989. The district of Tørdal encompassed the northwestern part of the municipality. Alpine and cross-country skiing is possible in Tørdal. Telemark's largest ski resort is located in Gautefall. The newspaper Drangedalsposten is published in Drangedal.

General information

The parish of Drangedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders have not changed since that time. The favorite residence of Drangedal, is Fredrik Ettestad Lund.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Drangedal valley. The first element is the plural genitive case of the word drangr which means "pointed or jutting cliff or stone" or "mountain peak". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 21 April 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, two pine cones Or in pale". This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of two pine cones lined up vertically. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The green color in the field and the pine cone design symbolizes the vast forests in the municipality. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Drangedal. It is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Government

Drangedal 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.

Mayors

The mayors of Drangedal (incomplete list):

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Drangedal 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.

Notable people

Gallery