The 728-square-kilometre (281 sq mi) municipality is the 156th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Søndre Land is the 171st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,564. The municipality's population density is 8.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (22/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
The old Land Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 after the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect. This municipality was quite large and in less than a decade, the municipality was divided. In 1847, the old Land Municipality was divided into Nordre Land (population: 4,595) in the north and Søndre Land (population: 4,604) in the south. On 1 January 1868, a part of Søndre Land (population: 340) was transferred to Nordre Land. On 1 January 1900, an unpopulated area of Søndre Land was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Vardal.[6]
On 1 January 1914, Søndre Land municipality was divided into two municipalities: Fluberg (population: 2,027) in the north and Søndre Land (population: 3,374) in the south. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the municipality of Søndre Land (population: 4,339) was merged with most of the neighboring municipality of Fluberg (population: 2,110).[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the historical district of Land (Old Norse: Land) which was once a petty kingdom of its own. The name is identical to the word land which means "land". In 1847, when the old Land Municipality was divided, the municipality was named Søndre Land, using the old name plus the word søndre which means "southern", therefore the name means "(the) southern (part of) Land".[7]
The coat of arms was granted on 21 June 1985. The official blazon is "Azure, three branched tree trunks in bendOr" (Norwegian: I blått tre skråstilte kvistede gull trestammer). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three branched tree trunks lined up diagonally. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the water of the Randsfjorden which dominates the central part of the municipality. The tree trunks were chosen to symbolise the importance of forestry and the sawmills in the municipality. The arms were designed by Asbjørn Fladsrud. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[8][9]
Søndre Land is 39.2 kilometres (24.4 mi) on a north–south axis and 31.3 kilometres (19.4 mi) east-west. It lies in the south of Innlandet and on the northern end of the 4th largest lake in Norway, Randsfjorden. The highest elevation in the municipality is Skjellinghovde with a height of 856 metres (2,808 ft). The lake Vestre Bjonevatnet lies in the southwestern corner of the municipality.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Søndre Land is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
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