Iveland

Iveland is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is bordered in the northwest by Evje og Hornnes, in the northeast and east by Birkenes, and in the south and west by Vennesla. The municipality has three population centers: Birketveit, Vatnestrøm and Skaiå.

1 The name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 Geography
4 History
5 External links

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Iveland (Norse Ífuland), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the rivername Ífa (now Frøysåna), the last element is land n 'land; farm'. The old rivername is probably derived from the Norse word ýr m 'yew' (Taxus baccata).

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). It shows a stonemason's hammer (to dig out minerals).

[edit] Geography

Iveland is the smallest municipality in Setesdal. The Otra river which flows through Iveland is the largest river in the Sørlandet district. Towards the east it borders on lake Oggevatn.

The Iveland area includes several hundred old mines. These pegmatite mines and quarries yield more than 100 different minerals, including minerals containing Rare earth elements, beryllium, scandium, uranium and thorium.

[edit] History

Although nothing is found in written sources about Iveland before the 15th century, there is evidence of occupation for thousands of years prior to that. Stone age implements have been found which are four-five thousand years old. A King’s road (Kongevegen in Norwegian) which allowed for horse travel went in an east-west direction through the area and was in use as early as the 9th century, and perhaps before. But the first written record of farms created by clearing the land goes back 600 years.

The Setesdal Railroad (Setesdalsbanen in Norwegian) was a narrow gauge steam railway which went across Iveland on its route between Vennesla and Byglandsfjord in Bygland. It was built in 1896. Setesdalsbanen operation was terminated in 1962 and the track was removed between Byglandsfjord and Beihølen. When it was constructed, it revived the lumber industry. Large quantities of planks, poles and timbers were brought by horse to the Iveland station and forwarded by railroad to Kristiansand. This resulted in better prices since it provided competition with the floated timber.

[edit] External links

Municipality facts for Aust-Agder from the central Statistical bureau

Municipalities of Aust-Agder
Arendal \| Birkenes \| Bygland \| Bykle \| Evje og Hornnes \| Froland \| Gjerstad \| Grimstad \| Iveland \| Lillesand \| Risør \| Tvedestrand \| Valle \| Vegårshei \| Åmli