Mykland (municipality)


Mykland is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1876 until 1967 when it was merged into the neighboring municipality of Froland. Mykland included the inland areas between the rivers Tovdalsåna and the Rettåna. The administrative centre was the village of Mykland where the Mykland Church is located.
The main roads through the municipality are Norwegian County Road 42 and Norwegian County Road 413.

History

The parish of Mykland was originally part of the municipality of Åmli. Mykland was established as a municipality in 1876, when the southern parish of Mykland was split off to be a separate municipality. This lef Åmli with a population of 2,564. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. After much debate in Mykland, a vote was held on whether or not to join Åmli to the north, Froland to the east, or Birkenes to the south. A majority voted for Froland, some voted for Åmli, and no one voted to join Birkenes. Therefore, on 1 January 1967, Mykland was merged into the neighboring municipality of Froland. Prior to the merger, Mykland had a population of 604. On 1 January 1970, the uninhabited properties of Neset and Råbudal in Froland were moved to Birkenes municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Mykland farm, since the first Mykland Church was built there. The first element is mykill which means "great" and the last element is land which means "land".