The 2,045-square-kilometre (790 sq mi) municipality is the 34th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tinn is the 172nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,546. The municipality's population density is 3 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.8/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 7.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
The parish of Tind (later spelled "Tinn") was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1860, the southeastern area of the municipality around the village of Hovin (population: 815) was separated from Tinn to become part of the newly created Gransherad Municipality. On 24 March 1903, an unpopulated area of Tinn Municipality was transferred to Hovin Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipality of Hovin was dissolved. All of Hovin located east of the lake Tinnsjå (population: 461) was merged into Tinn Municipality (the rest of the old Hovin municipality became part of Notodden Municipality).[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) comes from an old name for the area (Old Norse: Tinnr) or an old name for the local Tinnsjå. The name is possibly derived from the word tjǫrn which means "small lake" or "pond". Historically, the name was spelled Tind.[7]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 25 November 1994. The official blazon is "Argent, five gouttes de larmes, three and two" (Norwegian: I sølv fem blå dråper, 3-2). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a set of five gouttes (droplets) of water. This design was chosen to represent the five rivers in the municipality and the hydropower plants near Rjukan. The arms were designed by Halvor Holtskog. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[8][9][10][11]
The Rjukan Falls, located on the Måna river, allowed construction of Vemork, the largest power station in the world in 1911. The station has become a museum where one can explore the history of the energy and see exhibits about the industrial development in Norway and in the town of Rjukan.
The museum at Vemork is most famous for its presentation of Rjukan's war history. During World War II, Vemork was the site of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage, when Norwegian saboteurs prevented the Germans from producing nuclear weapons from the heavy water which was produced here. The exhibit Atomkappløpet ("The nuclear race") presents the four heavy water sabotages and the allied efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Tinn is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Most of Tinn is quite rural. The town of Rjukan is the largest settlement. It is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, through which the Måna river flows.
Tinn stretches deeply into the Hardangervidda landscape. One landmark in Tinn is the 1,883 metres (6,178 ft) tall mountain Gaustatoppen, which is climbed by 30,000 people each year. On clear days it is possible to see one sixth of Norway from its summit. Other areas include the Blefjell mountains, with Bletoppen being the highest mountain in that area and also the Vegglifjell mountains, with Skirveggen being the highest mountain in that area.
Sam Eyde (1866–1940), an engineer and industrialist who developed Rjukan Falls to produce hydro electrical power
Albert Sund (1884–?), a trade union leader, Labour politician, and chairman of the Øst-Telemark faglige Samorg for three years
Knut Haugland DSO, MM, (1917 in Rjukan – 2009), a WWII resistance fighter and explorer who accompanied Thor Heyerdahl on his famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition
Snowshoe Thompson (born 1827 in Austbygdi, Telemark as Jon Torsteinsson Rue – 1876), a Norwegian-American who was considered the father of California skiing
