Vegårshei

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Vegårshei kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Aust-Agder within
Norway
Vegårshei within Aust-Agder
Coordinates: 58°46′32″N 8°49′56″E / 58.77556°N 8.83222°E / 58.77556; 8.83222Coordinates: 58°46′32″N 8°49′56″E / 58.77556°N 8.83222°E / 58.77556; 8.83222
Country Norway
County Aust-Agder
District Sørlandet
Administrative centre Myra
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Kjetil Torp (KrF)
Area
 • Total 355.65 km2 (137.32 sq mi)
 • Land 322.37 km2 (124.47 sq mi)
 • Water 33.28 km2 (12.85 sq mi)
Area rank 255 in Norway
Population (2010)
 • Total 1,886
 • Rank 344 in Norway
 • Density 5.9/km2 (15/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 2.6 %
Demonym Vegårsheiing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0912
Official language form Neutral
Website www.vegarshei.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Vegårshei is a municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the village of Myra.

General information

The parish of Vegaardsheien was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name may have been Vigisheiðr. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the lake Vegår (the Norse form, and the meaning, of the name is uncertain). The last element is heiðr which means "heath" or "moor".[2]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 30 April 1987. The arms show a fox as a representative of the local wildlife and also for the fox farming in the village.[3]
See also: Coat of arms of Dyrøy

Geography

Vegårshei is bordered on the north by the municipalities of Nissedal and Gjerstad, on the east by Risør, on the south by Tvedestrand, and on the west by Åmli.

The largest lake in Vegårshei is Vegår.

Economy

Vegårshei used to be an agricultural and lumbering community.

Culture

Vegårshei is a great place for hunting and fishing.

References

  1. ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. 
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 1. 
  3. ↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 4 October 2008. 

External links

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