Kviteseid

Kviteseid kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Telemark within
Norway

Kviteseid within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°23′54″N 8°29′42″E / 59.39833°N 8.49500°E / 59.39833; 8.49500Coordinates: 59°23′54″N 8°29′42″E / 59.39833°N 8.49500°E / 59.39833; 8.49500
Country Norway
County Telemark
District Vest-Telemark
Administrative centre Kviteseid
Government
 • Mayor (2015) Tarjei Gjelstad (Ap)
Area
 • Total 708 km2 (273 sq mi)
 • Land 624 km2 (241 sq mi)
Area rank 157 in Norway
Population (2004)
 • Total 2,622
 • Rank 296 in Norway
 • Density 4/km2 (10/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -6.9 %
Demonym(s) Kvitseiding[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0829
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.kviteseid.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Kviteseid is a municipality in Telemark county in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kviteseid. The parish of Hvideseid was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The main industries of the municipality are forestry, agriculture, tourism, and hydroelectric power. The Telemark Canal goes through Kviteseid. There are also several ski resorts in Kviteseid. Vrådal is one of them.

Within the municipality of Kviteseid, one finds the little village of Morgedal, also known as the "Cradle of Modern Skiing" ("Skisportens vugge") and home of Sondre Norheim. Here, the Olympic Flame was lit for the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, and 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Hvítiseið. The first element is the genitive case of Hvítir which means "the white one" (probably an older name of Kviteseidvatn) and the last element is eið which means "path between two lakes". Prior to 1889, the name was written "Hviteseid".[2]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted in 1987. The arms show an old black-colored lock on a gold/yellow background. It was chosen to symbolize safety.

Geography

The municipality borders Seljord to the northwest; Nome to the east; Drangedal, Nissedal, and Fyresdal to the south; and Tokke to the west. The highest point is Sveinsheia at 1,141 metres (3,743 ft) above sea level.

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1914). Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt (Dokumentasjonsprosjektet) (in Norwegian) (7 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 348–349.
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