Siljan, Norway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Siljan kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms of Siljan kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Siljan kommune
Telemark within
Norway
Siljan within Telemark
Siljan within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°17′51″N 9°42′23″E / 59.2975, 9.70639
Country Norway
County Telemark
District Grenland
Municipality ID NO-0811
Administrative centre Siljan
Government
 - Mayor (2003) Finn Tallakstad (Ap)
Area (Nr. 324 in Norway)
 - Total 214 km² (82.6 sq mi)
 - Land 202 km² (78 sq mi)
Population (2004)
 - Total 2,349
 - Density 12/km² (31.1/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) 3.1 %
 - Rank in Norway 314
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form Neutral
Data from Statistics Norway
Website: www.siljan.kommune.no

Siljan is a municipality in the county of Telemark, Norway.

Siljan (until 1918 named Slemdal) was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The municipality is located northeast of Skien and borders in the north to Buskerud county and in the east to Vestfold county. There is a forest district on both sides of Skiensvassdraget (Skien river). The older main road to Skien, Larvik and Oslo, passes through Siljan. It is very beautiful

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Siljan (Norse *Seljur), since the first church was built there. The name is (probably) the plural form of selja f 'sallow-tree, willow'.

Until 1918 the name of the municipality was Slemdal.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1989). It shows three blades of saw. (To represent the timber industry of the municipality.)