Lund, Norway

Lund is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moi. Other villages in Lund include Eik and, Heskestad. European route E39 and the Sørlandet Line both pass through Lund. Moi Station is a railway station in Lund.

The 408 km2 municipality is the 237th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Lund is the 223rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,206. The municipality's population density is 9.1 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The parish of Lunde (later spelled Lund) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, most of the municipality of Heskestad (population: 547) was merged with Lund to form a much larger municipality of Lund.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lund farm (Lundr) since the first Lund Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "grove" (but here maybe "sacred grove"). Before 1889, the name was written "Lunde".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 14 December 1984. The official blazon is "Vert, three acorns in pall stems conjoined Or" (I grønt tre gull eikenøtter i trepass). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a cluster of three acorn with their stems connected. 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 acorns symbolize the many oak trees in the municipality, as well as many toponyms and names of farms, which start with Eik (oak), such as Eik, Eike, and Eikeland. There are three acorns to represent the three main population centres in the municipality (Moi, Hovsherad, and Ualand/Heskestad). The arms were designed by Svein Arild Berntsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Lund. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Government
Lund 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 Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

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


 * 1981–1991: Kjell Erfjord (KrF)
 * 1999–2007: Kjell Erfjord (KrF)
 * 2007–2011: Olav Hafstad (Ap)
 * 2011–2015: Pål Anker Ravndal (KrF)
 * 2015–2019: Olav Hafstad (Ap)
 * 2019–2020: Hogne Skjerpe (H)
 * 2020–2023: Magnhild Eia (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Gro Helleland (KrF)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Lund 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.

Geography
The municipality of Lund lies in southeastern Rogaland county, along the border with Agder county. The municipality of Sokndal lies to the south, Eigersund lies to the west, Sirdal (in Agder) to the north/northeast, and Flekkefjord (also in Agder) to the east. The lake Lundevatnet lies on the southeastern border of Lund. The lake Hovsvatnet lies in the central part of Lund, north of Moi. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet and Teksevatnet lie on the western borders of Lund.

Notable people

 * Erik Vullum (1850 in Lund – 1916), a Norwegian journalist, writer and politician
 * Pete Sanstol (1905 in Moi – 1982), a Norwegian professional boxer from Canada
 * Magnhild Eia (born 1960), a Norwegian politician, former deputy mayor of Lund
 * Boye Brogeland (born 1973 in Moi), a Norwegian professional bridge player
 * Børge André Rannestad (born 1973 in Moi), a retired Norwegian football midfielder
 * Emil Nikolaisen (born 1977 in Moi), a musician, bandleader, & singer of Serena-Maneesh
 * Hilma Nikolaisen (born 1982 in Moi), a Norwegian musician, singer and bass guitar player