The 640-square-kilometre (250 sq mi) municipality is the 181st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eidskog is the 155th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 6,032. The municipality's population density is 10 inhabitants per square kilometre (26/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
General information
The municipality was established on 1 January 1864 when the old Vinger Municipality was divided in two: Vinger (population: 6,226) in the north and Eidskog (population: 6,920) in the south. On 1 January 1986, the northern part of the Åbogen area (population: 14) was transferred from Kongsvinger Municipality to Eidskog Municipality.[6]
Name
The municipality is named Eidskog (Old Norse: Eiðaskógr) since it was an old name for the area. The first element is the pluralgenitive case of eið which means "isthmus" or in this situation, a "path between two lakes". The first element is skógr which means "woods" or "forest". Thus the name means "the woods with the many eiðs". (In historical times, people traveled in small boats on the lakes and the rivers, but they had to drag the boats over the eids.)[7] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Eidskogen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Eidskog, removing the definite form ending -en.[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 12 September 1986. The official blazon is "Argent, a grouse sableregardant crested gules" (Norwegian: I sølv en svart orrhane med hodet vendt bakover). 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 black grouse with a red comb. The design was chosen since this type of bird is a common inhabitant of the many forests in the municipality. Forestry is also one of the main sources of income in the area. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
The municipality is located in the southeastern part of Innlandet county. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of Kongsvinger (in Innlandet) and in the west by Aurskog-Høland, Nes (both in Akershus and Sør-Odal (in Innlandet). Eidskog also borders Sweden, both to the east and south.
The name Eidskog is ancient and was used for the southern part of Vinger, the region between today's Kongsvinger in Norway and Arvika in Sweden. The Vinger Royal Road (Norwegian: Eskoleia) historically traveled through Eidskog (and continues today as the Norwegian National Road 2). It was one of the most important traffic arteries between Norway and Sweden. The name Eidskog was already in use during the saga period and became, after the canonization of Saint Olaf and important pilgrim's route from Europe to Nidaros Cathedral. During the 12th century, the Eidskog Church was built. It was a stave church built in Midtskog (which means Norwegian: middle of the woods). The present Eidskog Church is built on the same site (now called Matrand) and this building was constructed in 1665.
The way through Eidskog was also militarily important and many times through history has been the point of Swedish strikes into Hedmark. To defend against these assaults, a number of fortifications were built in the vicinity, including ones at Magnor and Matrand, but the chief fortification was Kongsvinger Fortress (to the north).
The last Swedish attack through Eidskog was in 1814 when Major GeneralCarl Pontus Gahn on July 31 crossed the border and marched against Kongsvinger. His forces were stopped at Lier outside Kongsvinger on 2 August 1814 by troops led by Lieutenant ColonelAndreas Samuel Krebs (1769-1818) and retreated to Eidskog. On 4 August 1814, Krebs followed after to drive Swedish troops off Norwegian territory. The two forces met in the Battle of Matrand which was the bloodiest battle of the war and ended with a Norwegian victory.
Later in 1814, Norway was joined in union with Sweden and the confrontations at the Eidskog border ended.
The Soot Canal, constructed in 1849, has Norway's oldest sluice gates. It was the work of Engebret Soot (1786–1859). It was built to allow timber to be transported (floated) to the Haldensawmills. The canal was 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) long and had 16 locks which extended from Lake Skjervangen at 185 metres (607 ft) above sea level up to Lake Mortsjølungen at 201 metres (659 ft) above sea level.
The route through Eidskog became an important connection between the two countries; this was strengthened with the opening of the Grenseban railway in 1862, which connected Christiania to Stockholm.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Eidskog 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.
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