| Spangereid herred | |
|---|---|
| — Former Municipality — | |
| Entrance to the Spangereid canal | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Vest-Agder |
| District | Sørlandet |
| Municipality ID | NO-1030 |
| Adm. Center | Spangereid |
| Split from | Sør-Undal in 1889 |
| Merged into | Lindesnes in 1965 |
Spangereid is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Lindesnes, and it is home to the new Spangereid Canal which crosses the Spangereid isthmus.
The area is one of Norway's richest archaeological sites. The abundant remnants from the Bronze Age and Viking era show the Spangereid was a very important place at that time. Spangereid is strategically connected at the Lindesnes peninsula, Norway's southernmost point, where the east coast meets the west coast. Today the village is a popular tourist destination for Norwegians and Europeans alike.
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The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the Old Norse word Spangarheiði. The first element comes from the Old Norse word spǫng which means a "small piece of land" and the last element is eið which is identical with the word for "isthmus", since the church is located on an isthmus which connects the Lindesnes peninsula to the mainland.[1][2]
The municipality of Spangereid was established on 1 January 1899 when it was separated from the municipality of Sør-Undal. The initial population of the new municipality was 1,734. On 1 January 1963, the Gitlevåg area (population: 103) of Spangereid was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Lyngdal. On 1 January 1964, Spangereid (population: 899) was merged together with Sør-Audnedal and Vigmostad to form the new municipality of Lindesnes.