Agdenes

Agdenes is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre is the village of Selbekken. Other villages in the municipality include Ingdalen, Lensvik, Vassbygda, and Leksa.^[2]

General information

The municipality of Værnes was established on 1 January 1896 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ørland. It encompassed the area along the Trondheimsleia and initially, the population was 1,412. The name was changed to Agdenes on 17 May 1897 by a royal resolution.

On 1 January 1964, the western part of Agdenes (Ytre Agdenes) was merged into Snillfjord along with Heim. On the same date, the municipality of Lensvik (population: 1,136) and the Ingdalen area of Stadsbygd (population: 171) were merged into Agdenes to form a larger municipality of Agdenes.

On 1 January 1995, the Moldtun area (population: 21) was transferred to neighboring Snillfjord. This was because the area had been without an outside road connection, and once the road was built, it was built in the direction of Snillfjord, not Agdenes. Therefore, it was logical for the residents to vote to change municipalities.^[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Agdenes farm (Old Norse: Agðanes), since the first church was built there. The meaning of the first element is unknown (but it is probably the same as in the name Agder) and the last element is nes which means "headland".^[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 30 August 1991. The arms show a field of ermine under a red chief. The ermine field symbolizes the fur farming in the municipality. As ermine is also a royal symbol, it symbolises the fact that in historical times the local overlords (jarls) and kings have resided in the village.^[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Agdenes. It is part of the Deanery (prosti) of Orkdal and the Diocese of Nidaros.

**Churches in Agdenes**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Year Built	Location of the Church
Agdenes	Agdenes kirke	1857	Agdenes
	Lensvik kirke	1863	Lensvik
	Ingdal kapell	1960	Ingdalen

Economy

The industrial density of Agdenes is above the national average, and the primary sector is the biggest. Most of the inhabitants work within the milk or forest industry. The growth of strawberries and the breeding of fur animals are important industries as well.

The growth of strawberries has been a major industry in Agdenes for the past 100 years, started by the farmer Lars H. Selbæk in 1886 by planting some strawberry flowers and then giving them away to neighbouring farms. The most common varieties of strawberry grown here are Korona, Sephyr, Senga Sengana, and Bounty. Today, strawberry collection is performed by foreign workers, which are mainly from Poland and Lithuania. In the initial stages, the Norwegian youth were the main workforce, but after the 1970s, it became less attractive for them to pick strawberries in a field.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Agdenes, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Agdenes is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:^[6]

*Agdenes Kommunestyre 2015–2019*
Party Name		Name in Norwegian	Number of representatives
	Labour Party	Arbeiderpartiet	3
	Conservative Party	Høyre	2
	Centre Party	Senterpartiet	2
	Local Lists	Lokale lister	10
Total number of members:			17

Geography

View of the lighthouse in the Trondheimsfjord

The municipality is situated at the south end of the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord where it meets the Trondheimsleia. It includes several islands including Leksa. The municipality borders the municipalities of Hitra, Ørland, Rissa, Orkdal, and Snillfjord. The lake Øyangsvatnet is located in the west central part of the municipality. The Agdenes lighthouse sits along the Trondheimsfjord.

Birdlife

The municipality of Agdenes has a rich and varied birdlife. One of the better places is Litlvatnet. Fully protected since 1983, this nature reserve comprises shallow water with extensive reed beds. The lake is surrounded by farm land, which in its own right provides food and shelter for several species. Formed during the last ice age when sea levels dropped leaving exposed areas of land and trapped water from the melting ice, today's Litlvatnet is a remnant of this.

References

↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
↑ Morten Haugen. "Agdenes". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1901). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt (in Norwegian) (14 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 42.
↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 25 October 2008.
↑ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agdenes.

Sør-Trøndelag travel guide from Wikivoyage
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway

Municipalities of Sør-Trøndelag

Agdenes Åfjord Bjugn Frøya Hemne Hitra Holtålen Klæbu Malvik Meldal Melhus Midtre Gauldal Oppdal Orkdal Ørland Osen Rennebu Rissa Roan Røros Selbu Skaun Snillfjord Trondheim Tydal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.