Torpa, Norway

Torpa (or historically Torpen) is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The 561-square-kilometre (217 sq mi) municipality existed from 1914 until its dissolution in 1962. The area is now part of Nordre Land Municipality. The administrative centre was the village at Åmot where the Åmot Church is located. Torpa currently constitutes the northern part of the Nordre Land Municipality, bordering Etnedal Municipality and Nord-Aurdal Municipality in the west and Gausdal Municipality, Lillehammer Municipality, and Gjøvik Municipality in the east.

Torpa Municipality Torpa herred
Former municipality
Torpen herred  (historic name)
Åmot Church in northern Torpa
Oppland within Norway
Torpa within Oppland
Coordinates: 60°59′23″N 10°03′51″E
Country	Norway
County	Oppland
District	Land
Established	1 Jan 1914
• Preceded by	Nordre Land
Disestablished	1 Jan 1962
• Succeeded by	Nordre Land
Administrative centre	Åmot
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	561 km2 (217 sq mi)
Population  (1962)
• Total	2,620
• Density	4.7/km2 (12/sq mi)
Demonym	Torping[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral[3]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0539[4]
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The municipality of Torpen was established on 1 January 1914 when the large Nordre Land Municipality was divided into two: Torpen (population: 2,219) and Nordre Land (population: 2,570). In 1918, the spelling of the name was changed from Torpen to Torpa. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the municipality of Torpa (population: 2,620) was merged with the neighboring Nordre Land Municipality (population: 3,870) and the Tranlia and Store Røen areas (population: 196) of the neighboring Fluberg Municipality creating a new, larger Nordre Land Municipality.^[5]

Name

Lunde church in west Torpa

The municipality (originally the parish) is named, Torpen (Old Norse: Þorp) since it is the old name for the area. The name is identical with the word þorp which means "hamlet" or "village".^[6] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Torpen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Torpa, removing the definite form ending -en.^[7]

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.^[8]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Torpa was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Torpa herredsstyre 1960–1961 ^[9]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	12
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	1
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	2
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
Total number of members:		17

Torpa herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	11
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	1
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
	List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste)	1
Total number of members:		17

Torpa herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	10
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		16

Torpa herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	9
	Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti)	1
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet)	3
Total number of members:		16

Torpa herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[13]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	10
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet)	3
Total number of members:		16

Torpa herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[14]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	7
	Nasjonal Samling Party (Nasjonal Samling)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet)	2
Total number of members:		16
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.

Mayors

The mayors of Torpa:

• 1914-1922: Nils Eng
• 1923-1925: Christian C. Jøranli
• 1926-1928: Amund Stadsvoll
• 1929-1931: Kristian Stadsvoll
• 1932-1934: Birger Snilsberg
• 1935-1937: Arve Frøisland (NS)
• 1938-1940: Birger Snilsberg
• 1941-1945: Kristian Erstad (NS)
• 1945-1946: Birger Snilsberg
• 1946-1951: Amund Ødegård (Ap)
• 1952-1959: Arne Sandbakken (Ap)
• 1960-1961: Nils Herman Sundby (Ap)

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway