Åseral

Åseral is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kyrkjebygda. Other villages in Åseral include Eikerapen, Kylland, Ljosland, and Åknes.

Åseral kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms
Agder within
Norway
Åseral within Agder
Coordinates: 58°42′07″N 07°23′37″E
CountryNorway
CountyAgder
DistrictSørlandet
Administrative centreKyrkjebygda
Government
 • Mayor (2007)Oddmund Ljosland (Sp)
Area
 • Total887.52 km2 (342.67 sq mi)
 • Land797.72 km2 (308.00 sq mi)
 • Water89.80 km2 (34.67 sq mi)
Area rank127 in Norway
Population
 (2017)
 • Total937
 • Rank402 in Norway
 • Density1.2/km2 (3/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
4.9%
Demonym(s)Åsdøl[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-4224
Official language formNynorsk[2]
Websitewww.aseral.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Åseral is an inland municipality, bordering the county of Aust-Agder to the east and north. In the south, it borders the municipality of Audnedal, in the southeast with Hægebostad, and in the west with Kvinesdal. Åseral is the headwaters of the river Mandalselva and the Mandalen valley.

The 888-square-kilometre (343 sq mi) municipality is the 127th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Åseral is the 402nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 937. The municipality's population density is 1.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.1/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.9% over the last decade.[3]

General information
Old farm building at the local folk museum
View of Åseral Church

For centuries, the large parish of Bjelland encompassed the northern half of the Mandalen valley. The northern annex of the parish was Aaserald which was in the neighboring county of Nedenes while the main part of the parish was in Lister og Mandal county. When the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect on 1 January 1838, each parish was created as a municipality, however, since Bjelland covered areas in two counties, it had to be split into two municipalities. The northern annex became the municipality of Aaserald (later spelled Åseral) in Nedenes county and the rest became the municipality of Bjelland og Grindum in Lister og Mandal county. On 1 September 1880, the municipality of Åseral was transferred from Nedenes county to Lister og Mandal county. Its municipal boundaries have never changed.[4]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Ásaráll. The first part of the word is probably the genitive case of áss (m.), meaning "mountain ridge". The last part, áll (m.) means "long strip", probably referring to the long and narrow lake Øre. Historically, the name was spelled Aaserald or Aaseral. Since the early 20th century it has been spelled Åseral.[5]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 20 January 1989. It shows a silver or white horseshoe opening downwards on a green background. The horseshoe was chosen to represent the historical importance of horses in the farming culture of Åseral as well as the symbol of good luck. The green background represents the importance of forestry.[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Åseral. It is part of the Mandal deanery in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Churches in Åseral
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
ÅseralÅseral ChurchKyrkjebygda1822
Ljosland ChapelLjosland1959
Åknes ChapelÅknes1873

Government
Entrance to the Skjerka power station
Ljosland fjellstove hotel

All municipalities in Norway, including Åseral, 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 Åseral is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Åseral Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
 Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)3
 Conservative Party (Høgre)4
 Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)4
 Centre Party (Senterpartiet)6
Total number of members:17

Geography

Åseral is in the central, inland part of Southern Norway. It is in the Setesdalsheiene mountains and adjacent to the Setesdal valley to the northeast. Åseral has many lakes, some of which are dammed for purposes of hydroelectric power. Some of the lakes include Nåvatnet, Juvatn, Øre and Gyvatn. The river Mandalselva and the Mandalen valley both begin in Åseral.

Climate
Climate data for Åseral
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −4.0
(24.8)		 −4.1
(24.6)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 2.9
(37.2)		 8.5
(47.3)		 13.4
(56.1)		 14.7
(58.5)		 13.8
(56.8)		 9.5
(49.1)		 5.9
(42.6)		 1.0
(33.8)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 4.9
(40.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 158
(6.2)		 115
(4.5)		 112
(4.4)		 73
(2.9)		 109
(4.3)		 103
(4.1)		 107
(4.2)		 152
(6.0)		 198
(7.8)		 225
(8.9)		 214
(8.4)		 160
(6.3)		 1,726
(68.0)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) 15.7 10.7 12.6 9.4 11.4 10.6 11.0 12.4 14.2 15.7 16.4 15.2 155.3
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[8]

Attractions

Åseral is a popular winter tourist destination with three ski resorts in the villages of Bortelid, Ljosland, and Eikerapen. Eikerapen is also the site of the annual Eikerapen Roots Festival, an international music festival attracting thousands of people from all over Europe.

gollark: You don't actually need the fluxducts under all of them. They share power with adjacent ones.
gollark: The advanced ones are a nice blue color.
gollark: Why that specific tier?
gollark: Use them.
gollark: Ender IO has photovoltaic cells.

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  5. Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 134.
  6. "Kommunevåpen". Åseral kommune. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  7. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
  8. "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 2004-06-14.
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