Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration was located in the town of Lillehammer.
Merger On 1 January 2020, the neighboring counties of Oppland and Hedmark were merged to form the new Innlandet county. Both Oppland and Hedmark were the only landlocked counties of Norway, and the new Innlandet county is the only landlocked county in Norway. The two counties had historically been one county that was divided in 1781. Historically, the region was commonly known as "Opplandene". In 1781, the government split the area into two: Hedemarkens amt and Kristians amt (later renamed Hedmark and Oppland). In 2017, the government approved the merger of the two counties. There were several names debated, but the government settled on Innlandet.
Geography Oppland county extended from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen, and Rondane. Gråhøe is a mountain on the border between Sel Municipality and Dovre Municipality in Oppland.
The county was conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are the Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland and Land. Oppland included the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik, Otta, and Fagernes, and Norway's two highest mountains (Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen) and the Valdres and Gudbrandsdalen valleys being popular attractions. The Gudbrandsdalen valley surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna River. It is a well known place for skiing and winter sports. The main population centres in this area were Beitostølen and Fagernes. Eight of the ten highest mountains in Norway are located in the western part of Oppland.
Etymology In Norse times the inner parts of Norway were called Upplǫnd which means 'the upper countries'. The first element is upp which means 'upper'. The last element is lǫnd which is the plural form of 'land'.
In 1757, the inner parts of the great Akershus amt were separated and given the name Oplandenes Amt. This was divided in 1781 into Christians Amt (named after the king Christian VII) and Hedemarkens Amt. The name/form was changed to Kristians Amt in 1877 after an official spelling reform that changed ch to k (see also Kristiania, Kristiansand and Kristiansund). In 1919, the name Kristians Amt was changed (back) to Opland fylke, and the spelling Oppland was approved in 1950.
Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted in 1989, and it showed two Pulsatilla vernalis.
Municipalities
Oppland County (Christians Amt)Formannskapsdistrikt Original spellings of counties and municipalities in parentheses. had a total of 26 municipalities:
Dovre Etnedal Gausdal Gjøvik Gran Jevnaker (Jævnaker) Lesja (Lesje) Lillehammer Lom Lunner Nord-Aurdal Nord-Fron Nordre LandØstre Toten Øyer (Øier) Øystre Slidre Ringebu Sel Skjåk (Skjaak) Søndre Land Sør-Aurdal (Søndre Aurdal) Sør-Fron Vågå (Vaage) Vang Vestre Slidre Vestre Toten
+Number of minorities (1st and 2nd gen.) in Oppland by country of origin in 2017 Nationality Population (2017)2,4211,6061,2091,164817743714698660624574560495495466376365330
Districts
Begnadalen Espedalen Gudbrandsdalen Hadeland Heidal Hunndalen Land Toten Valdres Vestoppland
Cities
Gjøvik Lillehammer Fagernes Otta Vinstra
Parishes
Aulstad Aurdal Austsinni Bagn Balke Begndal Biri Brandbu (Nes) Bruflat Bøverdal Dovre Eina Etnedal Fluberg Follebu (Folleboe) Fåberg Fåvang (Fodevang) Garmo Gausdal Gjøvik Gran Hedal Hegge Heidal Hoff Hunn Hurum Høre Jevnaker Kolbu Kvam Kvikne (Quiekne) Land Lesja (Læssø) Lesjaskog Lillehammer Lom Lomen (Røn, Røen) Lunner Mesna Nes (Brandbu) Nord-Aurdal Nord-Fron Nordberg Nordre Etnedal Nordre Land Nordsinni (Hogner) Nykirke Reinli Ringebu Rogne Røn (Røen) Saksumdal Sel Sister Skiåker Skjåk Skrautvål Slidredomen Snertingdal St. Mary St. Thomas Strand Svatsum Svenes Sødorp (Søthorp) Søndre Land Sør-Aurdal Sør-Fron Tingelstad Torpa Tretten (Trøtten) Ulnes Vang Vardal Venabygd Vestre Gausdal Vestre Slidre Vestre Toten Volbu Vågå Østre Gausdal Østre Slidre Østre Toten Østsinni (Gårder) Øye (Øie) Øyer Åmot Ås
Villages
Aurdal Bagn Begna Beitostølen Bismo Biri Bjoneroa Bjorli Bjølstad Bjørgo Brandbu Brekkom Bruflat Bybrua Bøverbru Dale Dokka Dombås Dovre Egge Eina Fagernes Fluberg Follebu Forset Fåberg Fåvang Grotli Grua Harestua Harpefoss Hjerkinn Hov Høvringen Jaren Jevnaker Kapp Kolbu Kvam Lalm Leira Lena Lensbygda Lesjaskog Lesjaverk Lora Moane Nordlia Odnes Raufoss Reinsvoll Ringstad Røn Sandbumoen Segalstad bru Skogbygda Skrautvål Skreia Skåbu Sletta Slidre Snertingdal Svingvoll Tretten Tyinkrysset Vang i Valdres Vinstra Vågåmo
Former municipalities
Biri (Birid) Brandbu Eina Fluberg Fron Fåberg (Faaberg) Heidal Kolbu Land Slidre Snertingdal Torpa Vardal Vestre Gausdal Østre Gausdal
See also Høgbrothøgdi Røykeskardhøi Oppland (Storting constituency) Oppland County Municipality Oppland Regiment
References
External links