Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 334.8-square-kilometre (129.3 sq mi) municipality was the 260th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Budal Municipality was the 674th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 545. The municipality's population density was 1.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.1/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 7% over the previous 10-year period.[8][9]
General information
The parish of Budal was established as a municipality in 1879 when it was separated from the large Støren Municipality. Initially, Budal Municipality had a population of 585.[10]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Budalen farm (Old Norse: Buadalr) since the first Budal Church was built there. The first element is the name of the local river Bua. That name is the same as the word bua which refers to a "place where people live". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".[7][11] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Budalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Budal, removing the definite form ending -en.[12]
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Budal was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position:[14]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Budal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
^Helland, Amund (1898). "Budalens herred". XVI Søndre Trondheims amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 282. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
^ abHaugen, Morten O., ed. (26 November 2024). "Budal". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
^Sømark, Johannes (1989). Gard og grendeliv i Budalen. Gard og grend (2 utg.) (in Norwegian). Midtre Gauldal kommune. ISBN8299198402.