The 934-square-kilometre (361 sq mi) municipality is the 126th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Lindesnes is the 55th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 23,479. The municipality's population density is 26.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (69/sq mi) and its population has increased by 5.2% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
Lindesnes Fjellhallen (Millenium-Fjellhallen built in the rocks 2000–2004)Lindesnes fyr. The lighthouse is close to the southernmost point of mainland Norway.Aerial view of the southern coastline of Lindesnes
The municipality of Lindesnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the older municipalities of Spangereid (population: 899), Sør-Audnedal (population: 2,323), and Vigmostad (population: 589).[7]
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Mandal and Marnardal were merged into Lindesnes, creating a much larger municipality of Lindesnes. At the same time, the administrative centre of the new, larger municipality was moved to the town of Mandal.[8]
Name
The oldest Old Norse form of the name was Líðandi. That name is derived from the verb líða which means "lead to an end" or "go to the end" and the meaning of this name is probably just "the end", referring to its location at the southern tip of Norway. A later form was Líðandisnes where the word nes which means "headland" was added (a word that is related to the English forms ness and naze). The traditional English language version of the name is just the Naze, derived from ness meaning headland.[4]
Coat of arms
The original coat of arms was granted on 25 April 1986 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was enlarged and a new coat of arms was adopted. The official blazon was "Azure a lighthouse issuant argent" (Norwegian: I blått et oppvoksende sølv fyrtårn). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the top of a lighthouse. The lighthouse 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 lighthouse represents the local Lindesnes Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Norway. It was built in 1655 on the Lindesnes peninsula. The arms were designed by Truls Nygaard who based it after a design by Rolf Dybvig. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
The new coat of arms was granted on 1 January 2020 and it was a slightly more modern take on the old arms. The blazon is "Azure, a lighthouse issuant and a crest a mural crownargent" (Norwegian: På blågrønn bakgrunn, et hvitt fyrtårn med murkrone). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a lighthouse with a crown above the shield. The charge 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 new arms have a slightly different design and the addition of a mural crown above the escutcheon to represent the fact that the municipality now includes the town of Mandal. The color was also changed to a more teal blue.[9][12]
Former arms in use from 24 April 1986 until 31 December 2019
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Lindesnes is made up of 39 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Lindesnes is a coastal municipality, with a long stretch of coastline to the south. It borders Lyngdal municipality to the west, Evje og Hornnes to the north, and Kristiansand and Vennesla to the east. The Lindesnes Lighthouse stands on the southernmost point of the mainland of Norway, nearly 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) southwest of Knivskjellodden, the northernmost point of mainland Norway. The southern coast of Lindesnes is rugged and includes several fjords such as the Snigsfjorden and Grønsfjorden as well as many islands such as Svinør. The interior of the municipality follows the Audnadalen valley through which the river Audna flows south into the Snigsfjorden.
Climate
Lindesnes has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb). The weather station has been recording since January 1863, and is situated near the Lindesnes lighthouse on a peninsula protruding into the sea. It is the southernmost mainland point in Norway.
The all-time high temperature is 27.3 °C (81.1 °F) recorded August 1975; the all-time low is −18.1 °C (−0.6 °F) recorded in January 1987. The five months May - September have not seen any overnight freeze, with coldest low 0.6 °C (33.1 °F) in May 1981 (data since 1954).
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