Finsland (municipality)


Finsland is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre was the village of Finsland where Finsland Church is located. The municipality generally encompassed the northern part of the present-day municipality of Songdalen.

History

The parish of Finsland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Finsland municipality was dissolved and its lands split between two municipalities. The small area of Finsland near Kleveland bru was transferred to the neighboring Marnardal municipality and the rest of Finsland was merged with the municipality of Greipstad and the Eikeland area of Øvrebø to form the new municipality of Songdalen. Prior to the merger, the population of Finsland was 831.

Name

The municipality was named Finsland, after the old "Finsland" farm which is where the Finsland Church is located. The farm is situated by the river Finnsåna, which flows into the river Mandalselva. There are also farms nearby called Finsdal and Finsådal. The first element is the word finne means "wilderness" or "remote". The second element land is the same as the word for "land".