Kvås (municipality)

Kvås is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 116-square-kilometre (45 sq mi) municipality existed from 1909 until its dissolution in 1963. The municipality lies in what is now the central part of the municipality of Lyngdal. The administrative centre of Kvås was the village of Kvås where Kvås Church is located. Other villages in the Kvås area are Birkeland and Moi.[1]

Kvås Church
Kvås herred
Kvaas herred (historic)
Former municipality
View of a Kvås farm (1953)
View of a Kvås farm (1953)
Coat of arms of Kvås herred
Coat of arms
Official logo of Kvås herred
Vest-Agder within
Norway
Kvås within Vest-Agder
Kvås within Vest-Agder
Coordinates: 58°15′43″N 07°11′58″E
CountryNorway
CountyVest-Agder
DistrictLister
Established1 Jan 1909
 • Preceded byLyngdal Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1963
 • Succeeded byLyngdal Municipality
Administrative centreKvås
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total116 km2 (45 sq mi)
Population
 (1963)
 • Total493
 • Density4.3/km2 (11/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1033
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The municipality of Kvås was established on 1 January 1909 when the old municipality of Lyngdal was divided into three new municipalities: Austad, Lyngdal, and Kvås (population: 736). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Austad (population: 608) and Kvås (population: 493) were re-incorporated into the municipality of Lyngdal along with the Gitlevåg area of the neighboring municipality of Spangereid.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Kvaas farm (Old Norse: Kváss) since the first Kvås Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. One possibility is that it comes from the word kvos which means "valley" or "hollow". Prior to the 1917 Norwegian language reform law, the name was spelled with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the letter å was used instead.[3]

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[4]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Kvås was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Kvås herredsstyre 1960–1963 [5]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 1
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 3
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 8
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 1
Total number of members:13
Kvås herredsstyre 1956–1959 [6]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 1
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 3
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 7
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 2
Total number of members:13
Kvås herredsstyre 1952–1955 [7]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 1
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 8
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 1
Total number of members:12
Kvås herredsstyre 1948–1951 [8]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 1
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 3
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 7
  Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) 1
Total number of members:12
Kvås herredsstyre 1945–1947 [9]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Kvås herredsstyre 1938–1941* [10]  
Party Name (in Norwegian)Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also

References
  1. Store norske leksikon. "Kvås – tidligere kommune" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 252.
  4. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 21 November 2020.

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