Åmot

Åmot is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rena. Other villages in the municipality include Åsta, Osneset, and Snippen.

The 1340 km2 municipality is the 72nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Åmot is the 197th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,213. The municipality's population density is 3.3 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The parish of Aamot (later spelled Åmot) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1880, the Nordre Osen area of Trysil (population: 302) was transferred into Åmot municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Åmot farm (Ámót) since the first Åmot Church was built there. The first element is which means "river". The last element is which means "meeting" or "joint". Thus the name means the meeting of the rivers; in this case it is referring to the confluence of the rivers Glomma and Rena. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aamot with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Åmot, using the letter Å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 26 February 1988. The official blazon is "Vert, three axes palewise Or" (I grønt tre opprette gull økser, 2-1). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of three axes. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design symbolizes the importance and history of the logging industry in the area. For hundreds of years, forestry, together with agriculture, has been the most important source of income in the municipality. The ax that is in the design is called a running axe or narrow axe. It was used by log drivers when they had to chain logs together for transport. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Åmot. It is part of the Sør-Østerdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Education
Åmot has four schools: Åmot Ungdomsskole (Åmot Lower secondary school), Rena Barneskole, Deset Oppvekstsenter, and Osen Oppvekstsenter.

Government
Åmot Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Åmot is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayor
The mayors (ordfører) of Åmot (incomplete list):


 * 1923-1925: Eivind Petershagen (NKP)
 * 1926-1940: Ole Hermansen (NKP)
 * 1945-1947: Eivind Petershagen (NKP)
 * 1976-1988: Kåre Halvorsen (SV)
 * 1988-1990: Per L. Gundersen (Ap)
 * 1992-1993: Vivi Nysveen Østerås (SV)
 * 1994-1999: Åse Grønlien Østmoe (Sp)
 * 1999-2003: Per L. Gundersen (Ap)
 * 2003-2011: Ole Gustav Narud (Sp)
 * 2011-2015: Espen André Kristiansen (Ap)
 * 2015-2019: Ole Gustav Narud (Sp)
 * 2019–present: Ole Erik Hørstad (H)

Geography
Åmot is located in the east-central part of Innlandet county. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of Rendalen, to the east by Trysil, to the south by Elverum, to the southwest by Hamar and Ringsaker, and in the west by Stor-Elvdal.

The Renaelva and Julussa rivers are both tributaries of the large river Glomma, all three of which flow through Åmot. The Kjøllsæter Bridge crosses the river Renaelva, just north of its confluence with the Julussa river. The Julussdalen valley follows the river Julussa through the municipality.



Notable people

 * Vilhelm Uchermann (1852 in Åmot – 1929), a physician who was Norway's first otorhinolaryngologist
 * Tollef Kilde (1853 in Åmot – 1947), a forest owner, politician, and local Mayor ca.1900
 * Hans Storhaug, MM, DSM (1915 in Rena – 1995), a Norwegian resistance member during WWII
 * Vidar Sandbeck (1918 in Åmot – 2005), a Norwegian folk singer, composer, and writer
 * Anne-Cath. Vestly (1920 in Rena – 2008), a Norwegian author of children's literature
 * Ivar Nergaard (born 1964 in Rena), a Norwegian actor and writer
 * Stian Berget (born 1977 in Rena), a retired Norwegian footballer with almost 200 club caps
 * Tuva Novotny (born 1979), a Swedish actress, director and singer; brought up in Åmot