Hedmark


Hedmark was a county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, 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 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. 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, Østerdalen, and Solør / Glåmdalen 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, and Elverum 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.
Engerdal Municipality in Hedmark 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.
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 and Hedemarkens amt. Until 1919, the county was called Hedemarkens amt.

Etymology

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'.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms dates from 1987. It shows three barkespader, adzes used to remove bark from timber logs.

Politics

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, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party. Eight parties were represented in the assembly, the remaining 5 being the Progress Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Pensioners Party. The assembly was headed by the county mayor. 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

RankNameInhabitantsArea km2
1 Ringsaker Municipality341511125
2 Hamar Municipality30930339
3 Elverum Municipality211231221
4 Stange Municipality20646642
5 Kongsvinger Municipality17934965
6 Sør-Odal Municipality7884487
7 Løten Municipality7615363
8 Åsnes Municipality72791015
9 Trysil Municipality65672957
10 Eidskog Municipality6142604
11 Tynset Municipality56051831
12 Nord-Odal Municipality5097476
13 Grue Municipality4740787
14 Åmot Municipality44801306
15 Våler Municipality3680685
16 Stor-Elvdal Municipality24902144
17 Alvdal Municipality2424927
18 Os Municipality19361013
19 Rendalen Municipality18273073
20 Folldal Municipality15691266
21 Tolga Municipality15531101
22 Engerdal Municipality12941921
Total Hedmark19696627388

NationalityPopulation
Poland2,204
Sweden1,421
Somalia1,125
Lithuania1,119
Eritrea948
Germany746
Iraq721
Thailand694
Afghanistan620
Syria608
Denmark605
Vietnam572
Bosnia-Herzegovina539
Iran503
Netherlands418
Russia418
Kosovo416
Philippines369

Districts