The country of Norway is historically divided into a number of districts . Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities . The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys , mountain ranges , fjords , plains, or coastlines, or combinations of the above. Many such regions were petty kingdoms up to the early Viking Age .
5-523: Aust-Telemark ( lit. ' East-Telemark ' ) is a traditional district in Telemark county in Norway . The district comprises five municipalities: Hjartdal , Midt-Telemark , Nome , Notodden , and Tinn . The largest population centres in the region are the cities Notodden and Rjukan , of which Notodden is by far the largest with about 9,000 inhabitants. Hjartdal is scarcely populated. Historically,
10-657: The district they live in or come from, than the formal administrative unit(s) whose jurisdiction they fall under . A significant reason for this is that the districts, through their strong geographical limits, have historically delineated the region(s) within which one could travel without too much trouble or expenditure of time and money (on foot or skis , by horse/ox-drawn cart or sleigh or dog sled , or by one's own small rowing or sail boat). Thus, dialects and regional commonality in folk culture tended to correspond to those same geographical units, despite any division into administrative districts by authorities. In modern times
15-450: The district was made up of the three munincipalities/parishes of Hjartdal, Tinn, and Heddal , which were created in 1837 when the formannskapsdistrikt laws came into effect. In 1860, Gransherad municipality was created from portions of Tinn and Hjartdal. Hovin municipality was created by a split from Gransherad in 1886, and Notodden by a split from Heddal in 1913. In 1964 Heddal and Gransherad were incorporated into Notodden whereas Hovin
20-489: The whole country has become more closely connected, based on the following: A concrete display of the Norwegian habit of identifying themselves by district can be seen in the many regional costumes, called bunad , strictly connected to distinct districts across the country. Commonly, even city dwellers proudly mark their rural origins by wearing such a costume, from their ancestral landscape, at weddings, visits with members of
25-767: Was incorporated into Tinn. More recently, the areas of Midt-Telemark and Nome have been included in Aust-Telemark as well, although they were historically included in the old Nedre Telemark district ("Lower Telemark"), but that district is not really used anymore in favor of the Grenland district name which has slightly different boundaries. Notable people from Aust-Telemark include Myllarguten (1801-1872), legendary fiddler from Sauherad, Klaus Egge (1906-1979), composer from Gransherad and Hans Herbjørnsrud (born 1938), author from Heddal. Districts of Norway A high percentage of Norwegians identify themselves more by
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