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Froland

Froland kommune
Municipality
Krk-Froland.jpg
Coat of arms of Froland kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Froland kommune
Aust-Agder within
Norway
Froland within Aust-Agder
Froland within Aust-Agder
Coordinates: 58°34′59″N 8°34′20″E / 58.58306°N 8.57222°E / 58.58306; 8.57222Coordinates: 58°34′59″N 8°34′20″E / 58.58306°N 8.57222°E / 58.58306; 8.57222
Country Norway
County Aust-Agder
District Sørlandet
Administrative centre Blakstad
Government
 • Mayor (2003) Sigmund Pedersen (Sp)
Area
 • Total 644.56 km2 (248.87 sq mi)
 • Land 604.93 km2 (233.56 sq mi)
 • Water 39.63 km2 (15.30 sq mi)
Area rank 171 in Norway
Population (2010)
 • Total 5,002
 • Rank 202 in Norway
 • Density 8.3/km2 (21/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 11.2 %
Demonym(s) Frolending
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0919
Official language form Neutral
Website www.froland.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Froland is a municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the village of Blakstad, which along with Osedalen form the main population center of the municipality.

The municipality of Froland was established when it was separated from the municipality of Øyestad in 1850. The new municipality had an initial population of 1,976. On 1 January 1967, the neighboring municipality of Mykland (population: 604) was merged into the municipality of Froland. The newly enlarged municipality had a population of 3,372. On 1 January 1968, the Flateland area of neighboring Åmli municipality (population: 6) was transferred to Froland.

On 1 January 1970, the two uninhabited areas of Neset and Råbudal were separated from Froland and transferred to neighboring Birkenes. Then on 1 January 1979, the uninhabited Landheia area was transferred from Froland to Birkenes municipality. On 1 January 1991, the Dalen area in Birkenes municipality (population: 60) was transferred from Birkenes to Froland municipality.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Froland farm (Old Norse: Fróðaland), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name Fróði and the last element is land which means "land" or "farm".

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 17 January 1986. The arms show a squirrel as a symbol for the forests and wildlife in the municipality.


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