Engerdal

Engerdal 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 Engerdal. Other villages in the municipality include Drevsjø, Elgå, Sømådal, and Sorken.

The 2197 km2 municipality is the 28th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Engerdal is the 309th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,328. The municipality's population density is 0.7 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The new municipality of Engerdal was established on 1 January 1911. This new municipality was created by taking some of the land from the following existing municipalities: The borders of the municipality have not changed since its creation.
 * 750 km2 of southeastern Tolga municipality (population: 201)
 * 330 km2 of eastern Ytre Rendal municipality (population: 311)
 * 692 km2 of eastern Øvre Rendal municipality (population: 381)
 * 168 km2 of northern Trysil municipality (population: 291)

Name
The municipality was named Engerdal, after a local valley. The first element of the name comes from the local river Engeråa which flows through the valley. The river name is derived from the name of the lake Engeren, and this is probably derived from the Old Norse word which means "narrow". The last element of the municipal name comes from the word which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Engerdalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Engerdal, removing the definite form ending -en.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 8 February 1991. The official blazon is "Vert, a horse collar Or" (I grønt et gull bogtre). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a horse harness (the hames). 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 symbolize the ties between horse and man and at the same time the connection between work and recreation. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

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

Geography
The municipality is located in the northeast part of Innlandet county. It is bordered by Sweden to the north and east, the municipality of Trysil to the south, Rendalen to the west, and Os and Tolga to the northwest. The greater part of Lake Femunden and roughly half of the Femundsmarka National Park also lie within the boundaries of the municipality. There are many large lakes in the municipality including Engeren, Galtsjøen, Gutulisjøen, Isteren, Langsjøen, Nedre Roasten, Rogen, and Vurrusjøen.

National parks
Engerdal consists of two national parks. Femundsmarka National Park was founded in 1971 and is situated in the far northeastern corner of the municipality. The area is popular for its many lakes and attracts a lot of people for sport fishing every year. The same lakes are also perfect for paddling the canoe. Due to its large continuously, untouched and protected area, the national park is one of southern Scandinavia's largest parks and the area has become a base for many rare animal species.

The second national park, Gutulia National Park is much smaller, but has a more vigorous complex of trees and bogs. It was founded in 1968 and the many large, but old pines dominates the area.

Government
Engerdal 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 Engerdal is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Engerdal:


 * 1911–1916: Guren A. Gløtvold (H)
 * 1917–1919: Ole Puntervold (LL)
 * 1919-1919: Peder Omang (ArbDem)
 * 1920–1925: Guren A. Gløtvold (H)
 * 1926–1928: Ottar Andersen (RF)
 * 1929–1931: Kristian Lian (Ap)
 * 1931-1931: Knut Omang (Ap)
 * 1932–1937: Ottar Andersen (RF)
 * 1938–1940: John Sand (Ap)
 * 1941–1945: Peder Grøndalen (NS)
 * 1945-1945: Ottar Andersen (V)
 * 1945-1945: F.O. Sponberg (Ap)
 * 1946–1947: John Sand (Ap)
 * 1947-1947: F.O. Sponberg (Ap)
 * 1948–1951: Reodor Wardenær (Ap)
 * 1952–1955: Emil Stang (Ap)
 * 1956–1959: Peder Myrstad (Bp)
 * 1960–1963: Reodor Wardenær (Ap)
 * 1964–1971: Pauli Opgård (Ap)
 * 1972–1975: Edgar Krog (Ap)
 * 1975–1983: Ola Joten (Ap)
 * 1984–1987: Reidar Åsgård (Ap)
 * 1988–1991: Ola D. Gløtvold (Sp)
 * 1992–2003: Reidar Åsgård (Ap)
 * 2003–2007: Dag Rønning (Sp)
 * 2007–2011: Reidar Åsgård (Ap)
 * 2011–2019: Lars Erik Hyllvang (Sp)
 * 2019–2023: Line Storsnes (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Tor Erik Skramstad (H)

Economy
The most important industries in the municipality are agriculture and travel and tourism. The area of agricultural activity constitute 13000 acres, which includes about 60 operating units. Due to the harsh climate, the agricultural activity is mainly based around production of domestic animals, such as sheep and milk production. Another important activity is forestry. The total area of forestry make up 1000636 acre, where 517680 acre of this is productive land for logging. Of the forested land, about 40% consists of spruce and 60% of pine. The main owner of the land is the Norwegian state, while the rest is divided between private land owners and some belongs to the company Engerdal kommuneskoger (KF), a subsidiary company owned by the municipality.

Tourism
Due to growth in building secondary residences in the municipality, recreation and leisure activities has become important for those visiting Engerdal and this have had a positive effect on the municipality's travel and tourism industry. Tourists visiting Engerdal will experience a great wilderness with outdoor activities and adventures. Today, a great complex of attractions, activities and museums will reflect the municipals long history and many of them have become important businesses for economic growth, also keeping the cultural heritage intact.

Museums
Blokkodden Villmarksmuseum is an outdoor museum situated along highway 26 in Drevsjø. Its aim is to document the historical exploitation of the wilderness and natural resources in the municipal. You will experience the cultural heritage dated all the way back from the 1700th century and you will get an impression of how people lived and worked here in the past.

Engerdal is the only municipality in Innlandet county with a full-time working Sami community, and it marks the current southernmost border of the traditional Sami region, Sápmi, within Norway. The museum, therefore, exhibits artifacts and buildings from this culture. The museum is open everyday from 1 July to 12 August. Guided tours are available and people can participate in special local arrangements, such as learning about "Falkefangst". About 300–400 years ago, this was a way of hunting Falcons in the mountains.

Attractions
In 1886 the steamship company Fæmund was established, and they invested in a wooden steamship, which today holds the same name: M/S Femund II. From then and still going today, the steamship cargos important goods for the locals and has become an important transportation for tourists wanting to visit the national parks along the lake.

Notable people

 * Egil Hylleraas (1898 in Engerdal – 1965), a distinguished Norwegian theoretical physicist
 * Gjermund Eggen (1941 in Engerdal – 2019), a Norwegian cross-country skier who won three gold medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1966
 * Reidar Åsgård (born 1943), a Norwegian politician and mayor of Engerdal
 * Ola D. Gløtvold (born 1949 in Engerdal), a Norwegian politician and mayor of Engerdal