Tonstad (municipality)


Tonstad is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1905 until 1960. It encompassed the southern part of the present-day municipality of Sirdal. The administrative center of the municipality was the village of Tonstad where Tonstad Church is located.

History

The municipality of Tonstad was established on 1 January 1905 when the old municipality of Sirdal was divided into two municipalities: Tonstad and Øvre Sirdal. On 1 January 1960, Tonstad was merged with Øvre Sirdal and the Øksendal area of Bakke to form a new municipality of Sirdal.

Name

The municipality of Tonstad was named after the old Tonstad farm, since the church is located there. The first element of the name comes from the female name Tone and the last element is staðir which means "homestead" or "farm".