Gran, Norway

Gran  is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jaren. There is also a village of Gran located within the municipality.

Gran kommune
Municipality
View of Jaren in Gran
Coat of arms
Innlandet within
Norway
Gran within Innlandet
Coordinates: 60°26′28″N 10°29′44″E
CountryNorway
CountyInnlandet
DistrictHadeland
Administrative centreJaren
Government
 • Mayor (2007)Inger Staxrud (GBL)
Area
 • Total756 km2 (292 sq mi)
 • Land658 km2 (254 sq mi)
Area rank143 in Norway
Population
 (2016)
 • Total13,695[1]
 • Rank82 in Norway
 • Density20/km2 (50/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
4.2%
Demonym(s)Gransokning
Granasokning[2]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3446
Official language formBokmål[3]
Websitewww.gran.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

The municipality of Gran was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Brandbu was separated from Gran on 1 January 1897, but it was merged back into the municipality of Gran on 1 January 1962.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gran farm (Old Norse: Grǫn), since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word grǫn which means "spruce".[4]

Replica of Dynna Runestone at Hadeland Folkemuseum

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 December 1987. The coat-of-arms is red with two gold triangles stretching upwards with a bottony cross on the tip of each triangle. It is meant to represent the spires of the medieval Sister Churches which are located in the municipality. The arms were designed by Kari Ruud Flem from Jevnaker.[5]

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Gran by country of origin in 2017[6]
Ancestry Number
 Lithuania190
 Eritrea142
 Poland142
 Somalia139
 Kosovo64
 Iraq47
 Philippines45
 Sweden45
 Thailand44
 Denmark36

Economy

The economy of the municipality was in 2002 of 24,098 kr in free income per inhabitant, and net debt per inhabitant was NOK 41,835 (also municipal economy, not private). Health care spendings represents about one third of the total budget, which is 7.5 per cent higher than the average for Norway.

Geography

Gran is part of the Hadeland region. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Søndre Land and Vestre Toten, to the east by Hurdal and Nannestad, to the south by Lunner and Jevnaker, and to the west by Ringerike. Areas of concentrated population include Moen, Brandbu, Gran, and Jaren.

The Sister Churches
Tingelstad Old Church

History

Granavollen is the site of the Sister Churches (Norwegian: Søsterkirkene). These two stone churches are from the Middle Ages and were constructed side by side. The smaller and older is the Mariakirke, a single nave church built in the Romanesque style, built sometime before 1150. The neighbouring Nikolaikirke is a three-aisled basilica, probably inspired by the construction of the St. Halvardskirke in Oslo. It was built sometime between 1150 and 1200. According to local folklore, the churches were built by two sisters. These two detested each other so much they could not share the same church. A more likely explanation however, is that the Mariakirke was built for the local congregation, while the Nikolaikirke was the main church for Hadeland parish. The Granavollen stone is located behind the Nikolaikirken.[7]

Tingelstad old church (Tingelstad St.Petri Kirke) is another medieval stone church. It is a Romanesque stone church, dated to the 12th century and dedicated to St.Peter. This church has survived even though it has not been in regular use for some 140 years.[8]

This is also the location of Hadeland Folkemuseum with a collection of buildings from the area, farm implements as well as a grave mound from the Viking Era and a replica of the 11th century Dynna Runestone (Dynnasteinen). It also holds an archive of photographs and documents.[9]

Sister cities
View of Brandbukampen in Gran municipality

The following cities are twinned with Gran:[10]

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References
  1. "Befolkningstall SSB" (in Norwegian). SSB. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  2. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  3. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  4. Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (Anden halvdel) (in Norwegian) (4 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 140.
  5. "Informasjon om kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Gran kommune. Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  6. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  7. "Søsterkirkene". Gjøvikregionen Hadeland Ringerike. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  8. "Tingelstad (St.Petri) Kirke". Hadeland Lag of America. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  9. "Dynnasteinen". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  10. "Vennskapskommuner" (in Norwegian). Gran kommune. Archived from the original on 2008-12-28. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
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