Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 590.6-square-kilometre (228.0sqmi) municipality was the 167th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Evanger Municipality was the 560th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,338. The municipality's population density was 2.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (6.0/sqmi) and its population had decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.[7][8]
General information
View of the village of Evanger and Evanger Church seen across the river Vosso from the Bergen Railway Line
The municipality of Evanger was established on 1 January 1885 when the large Voss Municipality was divided as follows: the western district of Voss (population: 2,045) became the new Evanger Municipality and the rest of Voss Municipality (population: 5,403) remained as Voss Municipality.[9]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Evanger farm (Old Norse: Ævangir) since the first Evanger Church was built there. The first element comes from the word æja which means "to rest and eat" or "to rest and feed". The last element is the plural form of vangr which means "field" or "meadow". The name probably means something like "a place where one lets horses graze while on a journey". Historically, the name was spelled Ævanger until the early 20th century.[10]
Evanger Church was the main church for the municipality and it served the central part of the municipality. There were also two annex chapels: Nesheim Church served the northern areas and Bergsdalen Church served the southern areas of the municipality.
The municipal council(Heradsstyre) of Evanger Municipality was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Evanger Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people held this position:[18][19][20][21]
↑Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
