Editing Gausdal (section)

==General information==
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of Gausdal was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1867, a small area of neighboring [[Øyer Municipality]] (population: 40) was transferred into Gausdal. In 1879, the municipality of Gausdal was divided into two separate municipalities: [[Vestre Gausdal]] in the northwest (population: 2,362) and [[Østre Gausdal]] in the southeast (population: 5,911). On 27 July 1956, a small area of [[Sør-Fron]] municipality (population: 7) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Vestre Gausdal. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1962, the two municipalities of [[Vestre Gausdal]] (population: 2,590) and [[Østre Gausdal]] (population: 3,942) were merged into a new Gausdal Municipality.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the ''Gausdalen'' valley ({{langx|non|Gausdalr}}) since the municipality is located in the valley. The first element is named after the river [[Gausa]] which flows through the valley. The river name comes from the verb {{wikt-lang|non|gjósa}} which means to "gush", "burst out", or "stream forcefully". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DohBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (første halvdel) |date=1900 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=4 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=183 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Skeikampen Lindahl.jpeg|thumb|left|Skeikampen mountain – the outline is the inspiration for the municipal arms.]]
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 19 September 1986. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Per fess]] [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]] and [[argent]], a single stair step section slanting outwards"'' ({{langx|no|Delt av blått og sølv ved enkelt trappesnitt skrått utover}}). This means the arms have are divided with a [[line (heraldry)|line]] that is divided horizontally in the shape of a stairstep that is slanting to the right. The [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) above the line has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of blue. Below the line, the field 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 arms were designed to mimic the shape of one of the main mountains in the municipality, [[Skeikampen]]. The bottom argent part represents the snowy mountain and the top blue part represents the sky. The arms were designed by Inger Line Thallaug. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Gausdal |access-date=2022-11-10 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1986-09-19 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1986-09-19-1892 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gausdal, Oppland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-05-22.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kommunevåpen for Gausdal |url=https://www.gausdal.kommune.no/kommunevaapen.190569.no.html |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Gausdal kommune |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has five parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Gausdal. It is part of the [[Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Hamar]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Gausdal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Aulstad||[[Aulstad Church]]||[[Aulstad]]||1864
|-
|rowspan="1"|Follebu||[[Follebu Church]]||[[Follebu]]||1260
|-
|rowspan="1"|Svatsum||[[Svatsum Church]]||[[Svatsum]]||1860
|-
|rowspan="1"|Vestre Gausdal||[[Vestre Gausdal Church]]||[[Forset]]||1784
|-
|rowspan="1"|Østre Gausdal||[[Østre Gausdal Church]]||[[Østre Gausdal]]||c. 1250
|}