Vegårshei

Vegårshei is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the village of Myra. Other villages in Vegårshei include Mo and Ubergsmoen.

The 356 km2 municipality is the 249th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vegårshei is the 272nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,143. The municipality's population density is 6.7 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 7.9% over the previous 10-year period.

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

The population was at its largest in 1930, population 2161.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old name for the area (Vigisheiðr) since the first Vegårshei Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the lake Vegår. The meaning of the lake name is uncertain. One theory is that it comes from the word which means "pagan sanctuary". Another theory is that it comes from the verb which means "to consecrate" or "to dedicate". The last element is which means "heath" or "moor". Historically, the name was spelled as Wegaardsheien or Vegaardsheien, and sometimes it was abbreviated as simply Heien. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Vegaarshei. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Vegaarshei with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Vegårshei, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 30 April 1987. The official blazon is "Gules, a fox sejant argent" (I rødt en sittende sølv rev). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a fox. The fox has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The fox was chosen as a representative of the local wildlife and also for the fox farming 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 one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Vegårshei. It is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Geography
Vegårshei is bordered on the north by the municipalities of Nissedal (in Telemark county) and Gjerstad, on the east by Risør, on the south by Tvedestrand, and on the west by Åmli. The lake Vegår dominates the northern part of the hilly and forested municipality.

Government
Vegårshei 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 Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vegårshei is made up of 17 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 Vegårshei (incomplete list):


 * 1907-1919: Torjus Værland (V)
 * 2003-2011: Maya Twedt Berli (Ap)
 * 2011-2015: Kjetil Torp (KrF)
 * 2015-2019: Kirsten Helen Myren (Sp)
 * 2019-present: Kjetil Torp (KrF)

Economy
As of 2019, public administration and the service sector, are most important in regard to employment; the retail industry and entities that have hotel services and those that serve food and beverages, constitute 11% of employment; agriculture and forestry accounts for 9% of employment; manufacturing accounts for 7% of employment—21% including those employed in construction and those employed in the energy sector and [water supply]vannforsyning/ [garbage collection or] renovasjon. Of the inhabitants that are employed, 55% have employment outside the municipal borders.

It is well-suited for hunting and fishing for residents and tourists alike.

Transportation
The Sørlandsbanen railway line runs through the municipality, stopping at Vegårshei Station, just north of the village of Myra. There are several Norwegian county roads that cross the municipality, connecting it to its neighbors. Some of the roads include Norwegian County Road 414, Norwegian County Road 415, Norwegian County Road 416, and Norwegian County Road 417.

Notable people

 * Lars Vegard (1880 in Vegårshei – 1963), a physicist and researcher of the aurora borealis
 * Ole Colbjørnsen (1897in Vegårshei – 1973), a journalist, economist, and politician
 * Tjostolv Moland (1981 in Vegårshei – 2013 in Kinshasa), a former Norwegian army officer and security contractor