Laudal (municipality)
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Laudal Municipality
Laudal herred | |
|---|---|
 Vest-Agder within Norway | |
 Laudal within Vest-Agder | |
| Coordinates: 58°14′49″N 07°30′16″E / 58.24694°N 7.50444°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Vest-Agder |
| District | Sørlandet |
| Established | 1 Jan 1899 |
| • Preceded by | Øyslebø og Laudal Municipality |
| Disestablished | 1 Jan 1964 |
| • Succeeded by | Marnardal Municipality |
| Administrative centre | Laudal |
| Area (upon dissolution) | |
• Total | 93 km2 (36 sq mi) |
| Population (1964) | |
• Total | 560 |
| • Density | 6.0/km2 (16/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Laudøl[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1022[2] |
Laudal is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 93-square-kilometre (36 sq mi) municipality existed from 1899 until 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Laudal where Laudal Church is located. The municipality encompassed part of what is now the municipality of Lindesnes in Agder county.[3]
Name
The municipality was established on 1 January 1899 when the old municipality of Øyslebø og Laudal was divided into two municipalities: Øyslebø (population: 991) and Laudal (population: 836). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Laudal municipality was dissolved and its land was merged with parts of the neighboring municipalities of Øyslebø, Bjelland, and Finsland to create the new municipality of Marnardal. Prior to the merger, Laudal had a population of 560.[4]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Laudal farm (Old Norse: Laugardalr) since the first Laudal Church was built there. The first element of the name of the farm comes from the old name for the river, Laug, (now the Lågåna river). The old river name is identical to the word laug which means "bath". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Therefore, the name means the bath river valley.[3][5]
