Biri is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The 188-square-kilometre (73 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gjøvik Municipality in the traditional district of Vestoppland. The administrative centre was the village of Biri.

History

The parish of Biri was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1910, the municipality of Biri was divided in half. The western part (population: 2,028) became Snertingdal Municipality and the eastern part (population: 2,815) continued as Biri Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Biri (population: 3,274) was merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251), the municipality of Snertingdal (population: 2,471), and most of the municipality of Vardal (population: (9,612) to create a new Gjøvik Municipality with 23,608 residents.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Biri farm (Old Norse: Biríð) since the first Biri Church was built there. The name is presumably very old and its meaning is uncertain. One possibility is that the Old Norse name is derived from the word berhíð which means "bear den".

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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Biri was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Biri:

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway