Tonstad

Tonstad herred
Former Municipality
Coordinates: 58°39′45″N 06°43′00″E / 58.66250°N 6.71667°ECoordinates: 58°39′45″N 06°43′00″E / 58.66250°N 6.71667°E
Country Norway
County Vest-Agder
District Sørlandet
Municipality ID NO-1046
Adm. Center Tonstad
Area[1]
 • Total 361 km2 (139 sq mi)
Split from Sirdal in 1905
Merged into Sirdal in 1960

Tonstad is the administrative centre of the municipality of Sirdal in Vest-Agder, Norway. In 2005, its population was 751. It is also a former municipality that is located along the Sirdalsvatnet in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Sirdal.

Name

The municipality of Tonstad was named after the old Tonstad farm (Old Norse: Þornýjarstaðir ), since the church is located there. The first element of the name comes from the female name Tone (Old Norse: Þorný) and the last element is staðir which means "homestead" or "farm".[2]

History

The municipality of Tonstad was established on 1 January 1905 when the old municipality of Sirdal was divided into two municipalities: Tonstad (population: 828) and Øvre Sirdal (population: 753). On 1 January 1960, Tonstad (population: 651) was merged with Øvre Sirdal and the Øksendal area of Bakke to form a new municipality of Sirdal.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Tonstad – kommune" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 348.
  3. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.

External links