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Vågå

Vågå kommune
Municipality
Vågåmo.jpg
Coat of arms of Vågå kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Vågå kommune
Oppland within
Norway
Vågå within Oppland
Vågå within Oppland
Coordinates: 61°50′55″N 9°7′16″E / 61.84861°N 9.12111°E / 61.84861; 9.12111Coordinates: 61°50′55″N 9°7′16″E / 61.84861°N 9.12111°E / 61.84861; 9.12111
Country Norway
County Oppland
District Gudbrandsdal
Administrative centre Vågåmo
Government
 • Mayor (2012) Iselin Jonassen (Ap)
Area
 • Total 1,330 km2 (510 sq mi)
 • Land 1,253 km2 (484 sq mi)
Area rank 68 in Norway
Population (1.1.2007)
 • Total 3,724
 • Rank 237 in Norway
 • Density 3/km2 (8/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -3.2 %
Demonym(s) Vagvær
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0515
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.vaga.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Vågå (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈʋoːˈɡoː]) is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The municipality comprises 1,330 km2. The administrative centre is the village of Vågåmo.

The parish of Vaage was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The areas of Sel and Heidal were separated from the municipality of Vågå to become separate municipalities of their own on 1 January 1908.

Two origins have been suggested for the name Vågå:

Prior to 1918, the name was written "Vaage". In 1918, it was changed to "Vaagaa" and in 1921 the spelling was again changed to "Vågå". The letter å is a long vowel similar to "oh" or "aw", like in the American pronunciation of "cold" or "oar."

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 23 August 1985. The arms show a gold reindeer on a red background. They are based on a character in Henrik Ibsen's book Peer Gynt, who rides on a reindeer bull over the Besseggen mountains. Ibsen got the idea for this book from a local story.

Vågå is bordered on the north by the municipality of Lesja, in the east by Dovre and Sel, in the southeast by Nord-Fron, in the south by Vang and Øystre Slidre, and in the West by Lom.


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Wikipedia

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