Hedmark (Norwegian: [ˈhêːdmɑrk] ) was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020,[4] bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.

Hedmark fylke
Atnsjøen and Rondane in June 2009
Atnsjøen and Rondane in June 2009
Hedmark within Norway
Hedmark within Norway
CountryNorway
CountyHedmark
RegionØstlandet
County IDNO-04
Administrative centreHamar
Government
 • GovernorSigbjørn Johnsen
  Arbeiderpartiet
  (1997-2009–2019)
 • County mayorArnfinn Nergård
  Senterpartiet
  (2007–2019)
Area
 • Total27,397 km2 (10,578 sq mi)
 • Land26,084 km2 (10,071 sq mi)
 • Rank#4 in Norway, 8.57% of Norway's land area
Population
 (30 September 2019)
 • Total197,831 Increase
 • Rank11 (3.72% of country)
 • Density7.5/km2 (19/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase 4.05 %
DemonymHedmarking
Time zoneUTC+01 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02 (CEST)
Official language formNeutral
Income (per capita)132,200 NOK
GDP (per capita)204,205 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank11 (2.52% of country)
Websitewww.hedmark.org
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1951173,167—    
1961177,324+2.4%
1971179,204+1.1%
1981187,223+4.5%
1991187,314+0.0%
2001187,999+0.4%
2011191,622+1.9%
2021?204,065+6.5%
2031?216,105+5.9%
Source: Statistics Norway.[1]
Religion in Hedmark[2][3]
religion percent
Christianity
89.10%
Islam
0.75%
Buddhism
0.18%
Other
9.97%

Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged into Innlandet county on 1 January 2020, when Norway's former 19 counties became 10 bigger counties / regions

Hedmark made up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It had a long border with Sweden to the east (Dalarna County and Värmland County). The largest lakes were Femunden and Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norway. Parts of Glomma, Norway's longest river, flowed through Hedmark. Geographically,

Hedmark was traditionally divided into: Hedemarken (east of the lake Mjøsa), Østerdalen ("East Valley" north of the town Elverum), and Solør / Glåmdalen (south of Elverum) and Odal in the very south. Hedmark and Oppland were the only Norwegian counties with no coastline. Hedmark also hosted some events of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

Hamar, Kongsvinger, Elverum and Tynset were cities in the county. Hedmark was one of the less urbanized areas in Norway; about half of the inhabitants lived on rural land. The population was mainly concentrated in the rich agricultural district adjoining Mjøsa to the southeast. The county's extensive forests supplied much of Norway's timber; at one time, logs were floated down Glomma to the coast but are now transported by truck and train.

The Hedmark municipality of Engerdal had the distinction of marking the current southernmost border in Norway of Sápmi, the traditional region of the Sami people.

The county was divided into three traditional districts. Those were Hedmarken, Østerdalen and Solør (with Odalen and Vinger).

Hedmark was originally a part of the large Akershus amt, but in 1757 Oplandenes amt was separated from it. Some years later, in 1781, this was divided into Kristians amt (now Oppland) and Hedemarkens amt. Until 1919, the county was called Hedemarkens amt.

Etymology

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The Old Norse form of the name was Heiðmǫrk. The first element is heiðnir, the name of an old Germanic tribe and is related to the word heið, which means moorland. The last element is mǫrk 'woodland, borderland, march'. (See also Telemark and Finnmark.)[5]

Coat of arms

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The coat of arms is from modern times (1987). It shows three barkespader (adzes used to remove bark from timber logs).

Politics

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Every four years the inhabitants of Hedmark elected 33 representatives to the Hedmark Fylkesting, the Hedmark County Assembly. After the elections of September 2007, the majority of the seats of the assembly were held by a three-party coalition consisting of the Labour Party (14 seats), the Centre Party (5 seats) and the Socialist Left Party (2 seats). Eight parties were represented in the assembly, the remaining 5 being the Progress Party (4 seats), the Conservative Party (4), the Liberal Party (2), the Christian Democratic Party (1) and the Pensioners Party (1). The assembly was headed by the county mayor (Norwegian: Fylkesordfører). From 2007 to 2011, the county mayor was Arnfinn Nergård, representing the Centre Party. In 2003, a parliamentary system was established, which meant that the county assembly elected a political administration or council to hold executive power. This county council reflected the majority of the county assembly and included the three parties holding the majority of the assembly seats, i.e., the Labour Party, the Center Party and the Socialist Left Party. The council was led by Siv Tørudbakken, a member of the Labour Party.

Municipalities

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Municipalities of Hedmark
Rank Name Inhabitants Area km2
1   Ringsaker 34,151 1,125
2   Hamar 30,930 339
3   Elverum 21,123 1,221
4   Stange 20,646 642
5   Kongsvinger 17,934 965
6   Sør-Odal 7,884 487
7   Løten 7,615 363
8   Åsnes 7,279 1,015
9   Trysil 6,567 2,957
10   Eidskog 6,142 604
11   Tynset 5,605 1,831
12   Nord-Odal 5,097 476
13   Grue 4,740 787
14   Åmot 4,480 1,306
15   Våler 3,680 685
16   Stor-Elvdal 2,490 2,144
17   Alvdal 2,424 927
18   Os 1,936 1,013
19   Rendalen 1,827 3,073
20   Folldal 1,569 1,266
21   Tolga 1,553 1,101
22   Engerdal 1,294 1,921
Total   Hedmark 196,966 27,388
Number of minorities (1st and 2nd gen.)
in Hedmark by country of origin in 2017
[6]
Nationality Population (2017)
  Poland 2,204
  Sweden 1,421
  Somalia 1,125
  Lithuania 1,119
  Eritrea 948
  Germany 746
  Iraq 721
  Thailand 694
  Afghanistan 620
  Syria 608
  Denmark 605
  Vietnam 572
  Bosnia-Herzegovina 539
  Iran 503
  Netherlands 418
  Russia 418
  Kosovo 416
  Philippines 369

Districts

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Cities

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Parishes

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  • Alvdal
  • Austmarka (Østmark)
  • Brandval
  • Brøttum
  • Deset
  • Drevsjø (Drevsjøhytte)
  • Eidskog
  • Elverum
  • Engerdal
  • Finnskog
  • Folldal
  • Furnes
  • Gjesås
  • Grue
  • Hamar
  • Helgøy Kapell
  • Hof
  • Innset
  • Kongsvinger
  • Kvikne
  • Lundersæter
  • Løten
  • Mo
  • Nes
  • Nord-Odal
  • Nordre-Osen
  • Opstad
  • Os (Dalsbygda)
  • Ottestad
  • Rendal
  • Rendalen
  • Revholt
  • Ringsaker
  • Romedal
  • Sand
  • Sollia
  • Stange
  • Stavsjø (Ballishol)
  • Stor Elvdal
  • Strand
  • Strøm
  • Sør-Odal
  • Sør Osen
  • Tangen
  • Tolga
  • Trysil
  • Tylldal
  • Tynset
  • Ulleren
  • Vallset (Tomter)
  • Vang
  • Veldre
  • Vestmarka
  • Vingelen
  • Vinger
  • Våler
  • Ytre Rendal
  • Øvre Engerdal
  • Øvre Rendal
  • Åmot
  • Åsnes
  • Odalen Branch (LDS, 1857-1873)
  • Trysil Frimenighet, (1859-1891)

Villages

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Former municipalities

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References

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  1. ^ Projected population - Statistics Norway
  2. ^ Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.
  3. ^ Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010 Archived 2011-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ moderniseringsdepartementet, Kommunal- og (7 July 2017). "Regionreform". Regjeringen.no. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  5. ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Hedmark". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
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60°50′00″N 11°40′00″E / 60.83333°N 11.66667°E / 60.83333; 11.66667