Sør-Odal

Sør-Odal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Odalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skarnes.

Sør-Odal kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms Innlandet within Norway
Sør-Odal within Innlandet
Coordinates: 60°14′12″N 11°44′44″E
Country	Norway
County	Innlandet
District	Odal, Norway
Administrative centre	Skarnes
Government
• Mayor (2016)	Knut Hvithammer (Ap)
Area
• Total	517 km^2 (200 sq mi)
• Land	479 km^2 (185 sq mi)
Area rank	203 in Norway
Population  (2016)
• Total	approximately 7,800
• Rank	129 in Norway
• Density	16/km^2 (40/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	3.4%
Demonym(s)	Odøling[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3415
Official language form	Bokmål[2]
Website	www.sor-odal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

The parish of Søndre Odalen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The municipality is a rural community situated along the river Glåma and around the southern side of the lake Storsjøen. It is bordered by the municipalities of Eidskog in the south, by Kongsvinger in the east, and by Nord-Odal and Grue in the north. The terrain is dominated by rolling hills, lakes, and pine forests.

General information

Name

The last element is the old district name Odal (Old Norse: Ódalr). The first element of this is ó, a sideform of á which means "river" (here the Glåma river). The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".

The first element Sør- (meaning "southern") was added after 1819 when the parish of Odal was divided in two. (See Nord-Odal.)

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 10 January 1992. The arms show three gold keys on a red background. They represent the three parishes of Oppstad, Strøm, and Ulleren and the three local bodies of water: Glomma, Oppstadåa, and Storsjøen. The key symbolizes justice, knowledge, and positive ideals. The arms were designed by Harald Hallstensen.[3]

Ethnic and foreign minority

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Sør-Odal by country of origin in 2017[4]

Ancestry	Number
Poland	101
Sweden	49
Thailand	46
Eritrea	45
Lithuania	37
Germany	37
Romania	34
Denmark	22

Economy

The economy is based on a mix of manufacturing, farming, and services. Skarnes has a train connection to Oslo.

Notable residents

• Øystein Sunde, a Norwegian songwriter and entertainer is from Skarnes
• Peder Sather, emigrated to the United States, became a successful banker and philanthropist for whom the Sather Tower at UC Berkeley in California is named
• Martin Linnes, Norwegian footballer

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Sør-Odal:[5]

• - Viitasaari, Länsi-Suomi, Finland

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
3. "Kommunevåpen for Sør-Odal kommmune" (in Norwegian). Sør-Odal kommmune. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
4. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
5. "Sør-Odal - en kommune med mangfold i kulturtilbudet" (in Norwegian). Sør-Odal kommune. Retrieved 2008-12-29.

External links

• Media related to Sør-Odal at Wikimedia Commons
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway