Orkdal
Orkdal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality was the city of Orkanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality included Kjøra, Geitastrand, Gjølme, Thamshavn, Fannrem, Vormstad, Svorkmo, and Hoston. Agriculture plays a significant role in the municipality. The Thamshavnbanen was used to transport ore from Løkken Verk to the port of Thamshavn, and is now a vintage railway. The Fannrem concentration camp was located in Fannrem during World War II. Orkanger is one of the main industrial hubs in central Norway. The industry is mainly located around Grønøra Industrial park. The largest companies are Technip Offshore Norge AS, Reinertsen, Washington Mills and Elkem Thamshavn AS. At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 188th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Orkdal was the 97th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 11,933. The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 8.3% over the last decade. General information The prestegjeld of Orkdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 July 1920, the port of Orkanger (population: 1,715) and the southern district of Orkland (population: 1,760) were separated from Orkdal to form separate municipalities. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipalities of Orkanger, Orkland, and Geitastrand were merged with Orkdal to form a new, larger municipality of Orkdal. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county. On 1 January 2020, the municipalities of Agdenes, Orkdal, and Meldal along with the majority of Snillfjord merged to form the new municipality of Orkland. Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Orkdalen valley () since the first Orkdal Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the river (now called Orklaelva). The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the name was spelled Orkedalen. Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 25 April 1986 and it was used until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Vert, a pallet wavy argent" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical wavy bar. The wavy line 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 design was chosen to symbolize the river Orklaelva which runs through fertile Orkdalen valley throughout the municipality. The arms are also a canting because the name of the municipality is derived from the name of the river. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold. The municipal flag has the same