The area of Nore was separated from the municipality of Rollag in 1858. The municipality of Nore was divided into two municipalities on 1 January 1901: Nore and Uvdal. These two municipalities were merged back together on 1 January 1962, and the new municipality was called Nore og Uvdal.
General information
Name
The municipalities of Nore and Uvdal were joined together in 1962 into Nore og Uvdal.
The Old Norse form of Nore was Nórar. The name is the plural form of nór which means "narrow sound or strait". The name originally belonged to the vicarage (and church site) at Norefjorden.
The Old Norse form of Uvdal was Uppdalr. The first element is upp meaning "upper" or "high" and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The name originally belonged to the vicarage and old church site. Prior to 1933, the name was spelled "Opdal".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. It was granted on 26 March 1982. The arms are divided diagonally with the colors green on yellow above the line and yellow on green below. The economy of the municipality is based on agriculture and forestry. Hence the upper half of the arms shows a barn for the storage of grains and the lower half a watermill wheel which was used to saw trees.[4]
Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Nore og Uvdal by country of origin in 2017[5]
The municipal centre is the village of Rødberg. Nore and Uvdal are the two other villages in the municipality.
Nore og Uvdal is bordered in the north by the municipalities of Hol, Ål, and Nes; in the east by Flå and Sigdal; in the south by Rollag, Tinn, and Vinje (the latter two in Telemark county); and in the west by Eidfjord (in Vestland county).
The municipality is located at the top of the valley and traditional district of Numedal, with a widely spread area of 2,505 square kilometres (967 sq mi). The municipality's highest point is the Borgsjåbrot mountain at 1,485 metres (4,872 ft). It is located on the border with Tinn municipality in Telemark county. A large part of the Hardangervidda lies within the municipality's borders.