Laudal (municipality)
| Laudal herred | |
|---|---|
| Former Municipality | |
 Laudal herred
Laudal herred
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| Coordinates: 58°14′49″N 07°30′16″E / 58.24694°N 7.50444°ECoordinates: 58°14′49″N 07°30′16″E / 58.24694°N 7.50444°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| Region | Southern Norway |
| County | Vest-Agder |
| District | Sørlandet |
| Municipality ID | NO-1022 |
| Adm. Center | Laudal |
| Area | |
| • Total | 93 km2 (36 sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01:00) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Created from | Øyslebø og Laudal in 1899 |
| Merged into | Marnardal in 1964 |
Laudal is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 93-square-kilometre (36 sq mi) municipality existed from 1899 until 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Laudal where Laudal Church is located. The municipality encompassed the central part of what is now the municipality of Marnardal.
The municipality was established on 1 January 1899 when the old municipality of Øyslebø og Laudal was divided into two municipalities: Øyslebø (population: 991) and Laudal (population: 836). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Laudal municipality was dissolved and its land was merged with parts of the neighboring municipalities of Øyslebø, Bjelland, and Finsland to create the new municipality of Marnardal. Prior to the merger, Laudal had a population of 560.
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Laudal farm (Old Norse: Laugardalr), since that is the location of Laudal Church. The first element of the name of the farm comes from the old name for the river, Laug, (now the Lågåna river) and the last element (Old Norse: dalr) means "valley". Therefore, the name means "Laug river valley".
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