Torpa, Norway

Torpa (or historically Torpen) is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The 561 km2 municipality existed from 1914 until its dissolution in 1962. The area is now part of Nordre Land Municipality. The administrative centre was the village at Åmot where the Åmot Church is located. Torpa currently constitutes the northern part of the Nordre Land, bordering the municipalities of Etnedal and Nord-Aurdal in the west, Gausdal, Lillehammer, and Gjøvik in the east.

History
The municipality of Torpen was established on 1 January 1914 when the large Nordre Land Municipality was divided into two: Torpen (population: 2,219) and Nordre Land (population: 2,570). In 1918, the spelling of the name was changed from Torpen to Torpa. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the municipality of Torpa (population: 2,620) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Nordre Land (population: 3,870) and the Tranlia and Store Røen areas (population: 196) of the neighboring Fluberg Municipality creating a new, larger Nordre Land Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named, Torpen (Þorp) since it is the old name for the area. The name is identical with the word which means "hamlet" or "village". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Torpen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Torpa, removing the definite form ending -en.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Torpa was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors of Torpa:


 * 1914-1922: Nils Eng
 * 1923-1925: Christian C. Jøranli
 * 1926-1928: Amund Stadsvoll
 * 1929-1931: Kristian Stadsvoll
 * 1932-1934: Birger Snilsberg
 * 1935-1937: Arve Frøisland (NS)
 * 1938-1940: Birger Snilsberg
 * 1941-1945: Kristian Erstad (NS)
 * 1945-1946: Birger Snilsberg
 * 1946-1951: Amund Ødegård (Ap)
 * 1952-1959: Arne Sandbakken (Ap)
 * 1960-1961: Nils Herman Sundby (Ap)