Søndre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hov. Other villages in the municipality include Fluberg and Odnes.

The 728-square-kilometre (281 sq mi) municipality is the 156th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Søndre Land is the 171st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,564. The municipality's population density is 8.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (22/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The old Land Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 after the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect. This municipality was quite large and in less than a decade, the municipality was divided. In 1847, the old Land Municipality was divided into Nordre Land (population: 4,595) in the north and Søndre Land (population: 4,604) in the south. On 1 January 1868, a part of Søndre Land (population: 340) was transferred to Nordre Land. On 1 January 1900, an unpopulated area of Søndre Land was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Vardal.

On 1 January 1914, Søndre Land municipality was divided into two municipalities: Fluberg (population: 2,027) in the north and Søndre Land (population: 3,374) in the south. 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 Søndre Land (population: 4,339) was merged with most of the neighboring municipality of Fluberg (population: 2,110).

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the historical district of Land (Old Norse: Land) which was once a petty kingdom of its own. The name is identical to the word land which means "land". In 1847, when the old Land Municipality was divided, the municipality was named Søndre Land, using the old name plus the word søndre which means "southern", therefore the name means "(the) southern (part of) Land".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 21 June 1985. The official blazon is "Azure, three branched tree trunks in bend Or" (Norwegian: I blått tre skråstilte kvistede gull trestammer). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three branched tree trunks lined up diagonally. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the water of the Randsfjorden which dominates the central part of the municipality. The tree trunks were chosen to symbolise the importance of forestry and the sawmills in the municipality. The arms were designed by Asbjørn Fladsrud. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Søndre Land. It is part of the Hadeland og Land prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in Søndre Land

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Fluberg	Fluberg Church	Fluberg	1703
	Landåsbygda Church	Landåsbygda	1965
Skute	Skute Church	Ringelia	1915
Søndre Land	Enger Church	Enger	1875
	Hov Church	Hov	1781

Geography

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Søndre Land by country of origin in 2017

Ancestry	Number
Poland	77
Somalia	57
Netherlands	36
Eritrea	32
Denmark	24
Germany	22
Afghanistan	18

Søndre Land is bordered on the north by Nordre Land Municipality, on the east by Gjøvik Municipality and Vestre Toten Municipality, on the west by Sør-Aurdal Municipality, and on the south by Gran Municipality in Innlandet county. It is also bordered to the west by Ringerike Municipality in Buskerud county.

Søndre Land is 39.2 kilometres (24.4 mi) on a north–south axis and 31.3 kilometres (19.4 mi) east-west. It lies in the south of Innlandet and on the northern end of the 4th largest lake in Norway, Randsfjorden. The highest elevation in the municipality is Skjellinghovde with a height of 856 metres (2,808 ft). The lake Vestre Bjonevatnet lies in the southwestern corner of the municipality.

Government

Søndre Land Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Søndre Land is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Søndre Land:

Media gallery

• 
  Hov Kirke Church (1781), Søndre Land Municipality
• 
  Fluberg bru
• 
  Landåsbygda og Landåsvannet en høstdag

Notable people

• Christian Ancher (1711-1765), a Norwegian merchant, timber trader, and ship owner
• Peder Aadnes (1739–1792), a Norwegian rural painter
• Jørgen Meinich (1820-1911), a Norwegian jurist and wood processor
• Martin Smeby (1891-1975), a politician and mayor of Søndre Land in the 1930s
• Ola Viker (1897-1942), a Norwegian novelist and lawyer
• Håvard Narum (born 1944), a Norwegian journalist and author
• Ola Skjølaas (1941-2006), a Norwegian veterinarian, civil servant, and politician
• Per Blom (1946-2013), a Norwegian film director
• Finn Thrana (1958–2006), a Norwegian barrister and civil servant for Nasjonal Samling
• Ellen Andrea Wang (born 1986), a Norwegian jazz double bass player, singer, and composer