Hedmark


Hedmark was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west and Akershus to the south. 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, 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.
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 is from modern times. It shows three barkespader.

Politics

Every four years the inhabitants of Hedmark elect 33 representatives to 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 are 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 is headed by the county mayor. As of the 2007 elections the county mayor is Arnfinn Nergård. He represents the Centre Party. In 2003 a parliamentary system was established, which means that the county assembly elects a political administration or council to hold executive power. This county council reflects the majority of the county assembly and includes 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 is led by Siv Tørudbakken, a member of the Labour Party.

Municipalities

RankNameInhabitantsArea km²
1 Ringsaker341511125
2 Hamar30930339
3 Elverum211231221
4 Stange20646642
5 Kongsvinger17934965
6 Sør-Odal7884487
7 Løten7615363
8 Åsnes72791015
9 Trysil65672957
10 Eidskog6142604
11 Tynset56051831
12 Nord-Odal5097476
13 Grue4740787
14 Åmot44801306
15 Våler3680685
16 Stor-Elvdal24902144
17 Alvdal2424927
18 Os19361013
19 Rendalen18273073
20 Folldal15691266
21 Tolga15531101
22 Engerdal12941921
Total Hedmark19696627388

Districts