Imsland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 90 km2 municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included the area surrounding the inner part of the Vindafjorden in the present-day municipalities of Suldal and Vindafjord. The administrative centre of Imsland was the village of Imslandsjøen where Imsland Church is located.

History

The municipality was created on 1 January 1923 when the large municipality of Vikedal was split into three. The southeastern part of Vikedal became the municipality of Imsland. Initially, Imsland had a population of 604. The municipality existed for 42 years before it was dissolved in a merger brought upon by the recommendations of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the part of Imsland located south of the Vindafjorden (population: 61) was merged into the neighboring Suldal municipality. The rest of Imsland (population: 372) was merged with Sandeid and parts of Vikedal, Vats, and Skjold municipalities to form the new municipality of Vindafjord.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Imsland farm since the first Imsland Church was built there. The first element is the old name for a local river that used to be called Ylma. It is likely that the river name comes from the genitive case of the word olmr which means "fierce" or "angry". The last element is which means "land" or "district".

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Imsland was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: