Administrative centre Heddeland Demonym(s) Marnardøl Area 395 km² Local time Monday 2:15 PM District Southern Norway | Area rank 240 in Norway Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 2,290 (2016) Administrative center Heddeland | |
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Weather 3°C, Wind S at 5 km/h, 100% Humidity | ||
Marnardal is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Heddeland. Other villages in Marnardal include Bjelland, Breland, Koland, Laudal, and Øyslebø.
Contents
- Map of 4534 Marnardal Norway
- General information
- Name
- Coat of arms
- Churches
- Government
- Municipal council
- Geography
- References
Map of 4534 Marnardal, Norway
The Sørlandet Line runs through the municipality stopping at Breland Station and Marnardal Station.
General information
Marnardal was established as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 through the merger of several municipalities. These areas that became Marnardal included all Bjelland municipality except for the Midtbø and Ågedal areas (population: 535), all of the municipality of Laudal, the Kleveland bru area of Finsland (population: 34), and all of Øyslebø municipality except for the Brunvatne area (population: 1,068). The municipal borders have not changed since that time.
Name
The name of the municipality is a revival (from 1964) of the Old Norse name of the valley: Marnardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Mǫrn (now called Mandalselva) and the last element is dalr meaning 'dale' or 'valley'. The meaning of the river name is unknown (maybe derived from marr which means 'sea').
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 19 June 1987. The arms show three gold-colored pine cones on a green background. The 3 cones symbolize each of the three former municipalities of Bjelland, Laudal, and Øyslebø which were merged into Marnardal in 1964. The green background refers to the importance of the forests which cover areas of the municipality.
Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Marnardal. It is part of the Mandal deanery in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Marnardal, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Marnardal is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:
Geography
Marnardal is an inland municipality which follows the Mandalselva river through the Mandalen valley. The municipality borders Evje og Hornnes municipality to the north in Aust-Agder county; Audnedal municipality to the west; Lindesnes, Mandal, and Søgne municipalities to the south; and Songdalen and Vennesla municipalities in the east.