At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the 594-square-kilometre (229 sq mi) municipality was the 188th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Orkdal was the 97th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 11,933. The municipality's population density was 21.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (55/sq mi) and its population had increased by 8.3% over the last decade.[4][5]
General information
The prestegjeld of Orkdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 July 1920, the port of Orkanger (population: 1,715) and the southern district of Orkland (population: 1,760) were separated from Orkdal to form separate municipalities. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipalities of Orkanger, Orkland, and Geitastrand were merged with Orkdal to form a new, larger municipality of Orkdal.[6]
On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
On 1 January 2020, the municipalities of Agdenes, Orkdal, and Meldal along with the majority of Snillfjord merged to form the new municipality of Orkland.[7]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Orkdalen valley (Old Norse: Orkardalr) since the first Orkdal Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the river Ork (now called Orklaelva). The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".[8] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Orkedalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Orkedal, removing the definite form ending -en.[9] On 12 December 1919, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Orkdal.[10]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 25 April 1986 and it was used until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Vert, a pallet wavy argent" (Norwegian: I grønt en smal sølv stolpe dannet ved bølgesnitt). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical wavy bar. The wavy line 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 design was chosen to symbolize the river Orklaelva which runs through fertile Orkdalen valley throughout the municipality. The arms are also a canting because the name of the municipality is derived from the name of the river. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[11][12][13]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Orkdal is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
A large part of the population was concentrated in the Orkanger/Fannrem area, which is situated at the head of the Orkdalsfjord, a branch of the large Trondheimsfjord. The Orkla River, one of the better salmonrivers in Norway, meets the sea at Orkanger.
^"Mostar Gradovi prijatelji" [Mostar Twin Towns]. Grad Mostar [Mostar Official City Website] (in Macedonian). Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.