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Wikipedia / Moland Municipality

Moland is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1962 until its dissolution in 1992. The area is now part of Arendal Municipality in the traditional district of Østre Agder in Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Eydehavn. Other villages in the municipality included Kilsund, Narestø, Saltrød, Brekka, Strengereid, Vatnebu, and Sagene.

Prior to its dissolution in 1992, the municipality was the 370th largest by area out of the 448 municipalities in Norway. Moland Municipality was the 124th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 10.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the following areas were merged to form the new Moland Municipality:

On 1 January 1992, Moland Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form an enlarged Arendal Municipality:

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Moland farm (). The first element of the name is derived from the river . The river name comes from the Old Norse word which means "brave" or "courageous". The last element is which means "land" or "district". Its predecessor Austre Moland Municipality had the prefix (which means "eastern") which was added to differentiate the place from Vestre Moland Municipality which was located a little further south along the coast of Norway, but since that municipality was dissolved, the prefix here was no longer needed.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 7 January 1983. The official blazon is "Azure, a double chevron argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a double chevron that looks like the letter "M". The double chevron has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea for this municipality which had a long and rugged coastline. The double chevron design was chosen since it looks like the letter "M", the initial letter in the name of the municipality. The three points in the "M" also refer to the three areas that formed Moland Municipality: Stokken Municipality, Flosta Municipality, and Austre Moland Municipality. The arms were designed by Oddvar André Enggav.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish () within Moland Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Austre Moland prestegjeld and the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.

Geography

The municipality consisted of the mainland area to the north and northeast of the town of Arendal plus the islands of Flosterøya and Tverrdalsøya. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Skrattereidknuten, a tripoint between Moland, Froland, and Tvedestrand municipalities.

Tvedestrand Municipality was located to the north, the Skagerrak was located to the east, Tromøy Municipality was located to the southeast, Arendal Municipality was located to the south, Øyestad Municipality was located to the southwest, and Froland Municipality was located to the west.

Government

While it existed, Moland Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Nedenes District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Moland Municipality is made up of representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Moland Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

Notable people

See also

References