Hedmark

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.

Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The largest lakes are Femunden and Mjøsa. It also includes parts of Glomma. Geographically, Hedmark is in the traditional sense divided in the following areas: Hedemarken, east of Mjøsa, Østerdalen, north of Elverum, and Glåmdalen, south of Elverum. Hedmark and Oppland are the only Norwegian counties with no coastline. Hedmark also hosted some of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games

In the county are the well-known towns and built-up places Hamar, Kongsvinger, Elverum and Tynset. Hedmark is one of the less urbanized areas in Norway, as about half of the inhabitants live on rural land. Population is mainly concentrated in the rich agricultural district adjoining Mjøsa to the southeast. The county's extensive forests supply much of Norway's timber; logs were previously floated down Glomma to the coast but are now transported by truck and train.

Districts
The county is divided into three traditional districts. These are Hedmarken, Østerdalen and Solør (with Odalen and Vinger).

History
In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hedmark was a petty kingdom. Kings of Hedmark include:
 * Halfdan Hvitbeinn
 * Sigtryg Eysteinsson
 * Eystein Eysteinsson, brother of Sigtryg
 * Halfdan the Black, King Harald's father, was king of half of Hedmark after defeating rulers Sigtryg and his brother, Eystein.

Hedmark was originally a part of the large Akershus amt, but in 1757 Oplandenes amt was separated from it. Some years later, in 1781, this was divided into Kristians amt (now Oppland) and Hedemarkens amt.

The name
The Norse form of the name was Heiðmörk. The first element is heiðnir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is mörk f 'woodland, borderland'. (See also Telemark and Finnmark)

Until 1919 the county was called Hedemarkens amt.

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). It shows three barkespader (axes/spades to remove the bark from timber logs).

Politics
Every four years the inhabitants of Hedmark vote to elect the 33 representatives of the Hedmark Fylkesting, the Hedmark County Assembly. After the elections of September 2007 the majority of the seats of the assembly is held by a three-party coalition consisting of the Labour Party (14 seats), the Centre Party (5 seats) and the Socialist Left Party (2 seats). A total of 8 parties are represented in the assembly, the remaining 5 being the Progress Party (4 seats), the Conservative Party (4), the Liberal Party (2), the Christian Democratic Party (1) and the Pensioners Party (1). The assembly is headed by the county mayor (Norwegian: Fylkesordfører). As of the 2007 elections the county mayor is Arnfinn Nergård. He represents the Centre Party. In 2003 a parliamentary system was established, which means that the county assembly elects a political administration or council to hold the executive political power. This county council reflects the majority of the county assembly and includes the three parties holding the majority of the assembly seats, i.e., the Labour Party, the Center Party and the Socialist Left Party. The council is lead by Siv Tørudbakken, who represents the Labour Party.

Municipalities

 * Alvdal
 * Eidskog
 * Elverum
 * Engerdal
 * Folldal
 * Grue
 * Hamar
 * Kongsvinger
 * Løten
 * Nord-Odal
 * Os
 * Rendalen
 * Ringsaker
 * Stange
 * Stor-Elvdal
 * Sør-Odal
 * Tolga
 * Trysil
 * Tynset
 * Våler
 * Åmot
 * Åsnes