Rendalen

Rendalen kommune
—  Municipality  —
Otnes village and Lomnessjøen

Coat of arms

Hedmark within
Norway
Rendalen within Hedmark
Coordinates:
Country Norway
County Hedmark
District Østerdalen
Administrative centre Bergset
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Norvald Illevold (Ap)
Area
 • Total 3,180 km2 (1,227.8 sq mi)
 • Land 3,061 km2 (1,181.9 sq mi)
Area rank 11 in Norway
Population (2004)
 • Total 2,146
 • Rank 332 in Norway
 • Density 1/km2 (2.6/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -11.8 %
Demonym Rendøl[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0432
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.rendalen.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Rendalen is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bergset.

Contents

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Reindalr. The first element is the rein old Norsk for reindeer and the last element is dal which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is from the valley or vice versa. Renafjellet is one of the other mountains.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 2 June 1989. The arms show two silver reindeer on a blue background. They symbolize the importance of reindeer farming in the community. The two heads represent the two former municipalities of Øvre Rendal and Ytre Rendal. The arms were designed by the artist Arvid Sveen.[2][3]

History

The municipality of Rendalen was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Rendalen was divided into two separate municipalities (Ytre Rendal and Øvre Rendal) in 1880 when there was a population of 3,529. The two municipalities were reunited on 1 January 1965 and took the name Rendalen.

Geography

Rendalen is bordered on the northwest by the municipalities of Alvdal and Tynset, in the north by Tolga, in the east by Engerdal, in the south by Trysil and Åmot, and in the west by Stor-Elvdal.

Rendalen municipality encompasses most of the Rendalen valley, a side valley of the Østerdalen. In addition, the municipality encompasses the northern part of Storsjø, a mountainous area in the east of Rendalen and a small part of Østerdalen itself. It also comprises lake Sølensjøen.

The municipality has an area of 3,180 square kilometres (1,227.8 sq mi) which makes it the largest in southern Norway. The highest mountain is Sølen (Midtre) at 1,755 metres (5,758 ft)

Economy

The primary occupations are in farming and logging, but tourism is also important. The Renåfjellet mountain area provides for excellent alpine hiking.

Notable residents

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Rendalen:[4]

References

External links