Editing Kvinesdal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Moi-kvinesdal.JPG|thumb|left|View of the Kvinesdal valley]]
[[File:117543 Kvinesdal kommune (9214101335).jpg|thumb|left|View of Kvinesdal (1963)]]
[[File:Kvinesdal kirke, Vest-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T216 01 0022.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kvinesdal Church]]]]
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of Kvinesdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). In 1841, the neighboring municipality of [[Fjotland (municipality)|Fjotland]] (population: 980) was merged with Kvinesdal to form a new, larger municipality of Kvinesdal, although this was short-lived. In 1858, the merger was un-done and Fjotland became a separate municipality once again. After the split, Kvinesdal had 4,485 residents.<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>

On 1 January 1900, the municipality of Kvinesdal was divided into two: the municipality of [[Feda (municipality)|Feda]] in the far southern part (population: 1,090) and the municipality of Liknes in the northern part (population: 2,937). The name of Liknes municipality was changed (back) to ''Kvinesdal'' in 1917. 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 [[Fjotland (municipality)|Fjotland]] (population: 1,244), [[Feda (municipality)|Feda]] (population: 576), and Kvinesdal (population: 3,218) were merged to form one large municipality of Kvinesdal.<ref name="Dag" />

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the Kvinesdalen valley ({{langx|non|Hvínisdalr}}). The first element of the name comes from the old name for the local [[Fedafjorden]]. The old name of the [[fjord]] was {{lang|non|Hvínir}}. The old fjord name comes from the name of the main river, [[Kvina]], which flows into the fjord. The old river name, {{lang|non|Hvín}} is derived from the verb {{wikt-lang|non|hvína}} which means "to squeal" or "to whistle". The last element of the name is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt1LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt |date=1912 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=9 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=301–302 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

In 1900, the municipality was renamed ''Liknes''. This was short-lived, however, and in 1917 the name was changed back to Kvinesdal. The new name came from the old ''[[Liknes]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Leiknes}}). The first element comes from the word {{wikt-lang|non|leikr}} which means "game" or "sport". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|nes}} which means "[[headland]]". Thus, a headland for games or sports.<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Kvinesdal |url=https://snl.no/Kvinesdal |access-date=2016-09-23 |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt1LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt |date=1912 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=9 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=285 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 15 March 1985. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]] a [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] [[Engrailed (heraldry)|engrailed]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|I blått et sølv gaffelkors dannet ved taggesnitt}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a Y-shaped figure called a [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] with edges that are [[Engrailed (heraldry)|engrailed]]. The pall has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the pall design was chosen to symbolize the meeting of the two local rivers: [[Kvina]] and [[Litleåna]] which join at the village of [[Liknes]] and then flow south together to the [[Fedafjorden]]. The arms were designed by Truls Nygaard who developed it using ideas by Hans Freddy Larsen and Lars Olsen. 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=Kvinesdal |access-date=2023-01-18 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kvinesdal, Vest-Agder (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-10-37.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1985-03-15 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1985-03-15-710?q=flagg |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has three parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Kvinesdal. It is part of the [[Lister og Mandal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Kvinesdal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Feda||[[Feda Church]]||[[Feda, Norway|Feda]]||1802
|-
|rowspan="2"|Fjotland||[[Fjotland Church]]||[[Fjotland]]||1836
|-
|[[Netlandsnes Chapel]]||Netland||1886
|-
|rowspan="1"|Kvinesdal||[[Kvinesdal Church]]||[[Liknes]]||1837
|}