Drangedal

Drangedal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestestranda. Other villages in Drangedal include Bø i Tørdal, Bostrak, Gautefall, Henseid, and Neslandsvatn.

The 1063 km2 municipality is the 106th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Drangedal is the 200th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,091. The municipality's population density is 4.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 1.2% over the previous 10-year period.

The administrative centre, Prestestranda, is situated by Lake Toke. The municipal government is located there along with primary and secondary schools, shopping facilities, and a bank. Drangedal railway station is also located in Prestestranda and is served by the Oslo to Kristiansand Sørlandsbannen railway line. It was formerly connected to the Kragerø railway line, but that was closed in 1989.

The district of Tørdal encompassed the northwestern part of the municipality. Alpine and cross-country skiing is possible in Tørdal. Telemark's largest ski resort is located in Gautefall. The newspaper Drangedalsposten is published in Drangedal.

General information
The parish of Drangedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders have not changed since that time.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Drangedal valley (Drangadalr). The first element is the plural genitive case of the word drangr which means "pointed or jutting cliff or stone" or "mountain peak". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 21 April 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, two pine cones Or in pale" (I grønt to gull furukongler, 1-1). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of two pine cones lined up vertically. 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 green color in the field and the pine cone design symbolizes the vast forests in the municipality. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. 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 Drangedal. It is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Government
Drangedal 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 Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Drangedal (incomplete list):


 * 2003-2011: Nils Tore Føreland (Ap)
 * 2011-2015: Karianne Sydtveit Reiten (Ap)
 * 2015–2023: Tor Peder Lohne (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Stina Sætre (Sp)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Drangedal is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Notable people

 * Hallvard Graatop (early 15th century), a rebel leader opposing the Crown and the bailiffs who may have lived at the Vraalstad farm in Drangedal
 * Andrew Gulickson (1856 in Drangedal – 1941), a Norwegian American politician, member of Wisconsin State Assembly
 * Knud Wefald (1869 in Yttre Vefald – 1936), a Norwegian American politician in the United States House of Representatives
 * Abraham Aakre (1874 in Drangedal – 1948), a Norwegian teacher and politician who was Mayor of Halden
 * Finn Støren (1893–1962), a Norwegian civil servant for Nasjonal Samling, lived in Drangedal from 1933
 * Knut T. Storbukås (born 1943 in Bostrak), a musician and truck driver, stage name Sputnik
 * Nils Tore Føreland (born 1957), a Norwegian politician who was Mayor of Drangedal from 2003-2011
 * Vidar Sundstøl (born 1963), a Norwegian crime fiction writer