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Åmli kommune
Municipality
View of the Nidelva river in Åmli
Coat of arms .mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal} Aust-Agder within Norway
Åmli within Aust-Agder
Coordinates: 58°47′53″N 08°22′9″E / 58.79806°N 8.36917°E / 58.79806; 8.36917Coordinates: 58°47′53″N 08°22′9″E / 58.79806°N 8.36917°E / 58.79806; 8.36917
Country	Norway
County	Aust-Agder
District	Sørlandet
Administrative centre	Åmli
Government
• Mayor (2011)	Reidar Saga (Labour)
Area
• Total	1,130.61 km2 (436.53 sq mi)
• Land	1,058.42 km2 (408.66 sq mi)
• Water	72.19 km2 (27.87 sq mi)
Area rank	#89 in Norway
Population (2017)
• Total	1,856
• Rank	#335 in Norway
• Density	1.8/km2 (5/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	2.3%
Demonym(s)	Åmling[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0929
Official language form	Nynorsk
Website	www.amli.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Åmli is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative center is the village of Åmli which lies along the river Nidelva. Other villages in Åmli include Askland, Dølemo, Eppeland, Flaten, Hillestad, Homdrom, Lauveik, Nelaug, Øvre Ramse, Skjeggedal, Tveit, Vehus, and Ytre Ramse.^[2]

The 1,131-square-kilometre (437 sq mi) municipality is the 89th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Åmli is the 335th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,856. The municipality's population density is 1.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.8/sq mi) and its population has increased by 2.3% over the last decade.^[3]

General information

View of the river Nidelva

Old Stolpehus in the Tovdal valley

Åmli Church beneath a large mountainside

Name

The municipality (originally the prestegjeld) is named after the old Åmli farm (Old Norse Almlíð), since the first Åmli Church was built there. The first element is almr which means "elm" and the last element is líð which means "hillside". The name was historically spelled Omlid and Aamli.^[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. The arms were granted in 1987. It shows a silver or white beaver on a blue background. Odd Einar Ufsvatn was the designer. The beaver was chosen because the Åmli area is one of the few remaining beaver habitats in Europe, and beavers from Norway have been used to help re-populate other areas in Europe where the beaver had gone extinct in the wild.^[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Åmli. It is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

History

The parish of Omlid was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1876, the southwestern district of Åmli (population: 663) was separated from it to become the municipality of Mykland. This left Åmli with 2,564 inhabitants. On 1 January 1908, Åmli was split into three municipalities: the northern area surrounding the river Gjøv (pop: 590) became the municipality of Gjevedal, the southwestern area surrounding the Tovdalselva river (pop: 389) became Lille Topdal, and the remainder of the old municipality (population: 2,024) continued as Åmli municipality.^[6]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the neighboring municipality of Gjøvdal (pop: 362) was merged with Åmli to form a new, larger municipality called Åmli. The combined population was 2,309. On 1 January 1962, the Espestølsgrenda area (pop: 7) was transferred from Åmli (and Aust-Agder county) to neighboring Nissedal municipality (in Telemark county). Several uninhabited areas (the Espestøl, Reinefoss, and Espestølstykket farms) were transferred to Nissedal municipality in Telemark county on 1 January 1965. Then on 1 January 1967, the neighboring municipality of Tovdal (pop: 161) was merged back into the municipality of Åmli. Åmli then had a total of 2,211 inhabitants. On 1 January 1968, the Flateland farm (pop: 6) was transferred to the municipality of Froland.^[6]

Geography

Lifjellet mountain with a frozen waterfall]]

Åmli is located in northern Aust-Agder county. It is bordered on the north by Fyresdal and Nissedal municipalities (in Telemark county), on the east by Vegårshei municipality, on the south by Froland municipality, and on the west by Bygland municipality.

The most densely populated area is around the municipal center of Åmli, which lies on the banks of the river Nidelva. The village has about 682 residents (in 2017). Side valleys which join the main valley include Gjøvdal and Tovdal. The rivers Nidelva and Tovdalselva flow through the valleys.

In the southern part of the municipality the Sørlandsbanen railway line passes through the area, stopping at the Nelaug Station. The largest villages in Åmli include Dølemo, Nelaug, Hillestad, and Askland. The rest of the population is scattered among the valleys.

The Åmli hills are wooded and typically range from 700 to 800 metres (2,300 to 2,600 ft) above sea level. At 930 metres (3,050 ft), the highest point is Trongedalsfjell, which lies between the Tovdal and Gjøvdal valleys. Several lakes are located in Åmli including Måvatn, Nasvatn, and Nelaug.

There are several protected areas, for instance, the Årdalen nature reserve, bordering on the Rukkevatn nature reserve, and the Furubuhei marsh reserve, provide approximately 43 square kilometres (17 sq mi) of nature reserves.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Åmli, 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 Åmli is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:^[7]

Economy

Lumbering in Åmli provides for about 12% of the Aust-Agder county's total timber production making it the third most import source of timber in Aust-Adger (after Froland and Birkenes). Agriculture, including sheep husbandry, provides a minor contribution to the economy.

Electrical power is generated by a hydroelectric plant at Flatefoss, which regulates the level of the lake, Nelaug.

The newspaper Åmliavisa has been published in Åmli since 2008.

Transportation

The main road through Åmli is the north-south Norwegian National Road 41. Other roads include Norwegian County Road 412, Norwegian County Road 413, and Norwegian County Road 415. There are also two railway lines running through southern Åmli: the main Sørlandsbanen railway line which stops at Nelaug Station and the branch line Arendalsbanen which terminates at Nelaug Station, but also stops at Flaten Station.

Notable residents

• 
  Engvald Bakkan (1897–1982), an author


• 
  Godtfred Lorentsen (1909–2000), a photographer, local historian, and author


• 
  Jonas Alaska (born 1988), a musician

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Åmli.

External links

Look up Åmli in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 
  Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
  


• 
  Aust-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage


• Culture in Åmli on the map