Editing Lesja (section)

==General information==
The [[parish]] of ''Lesje'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). In 1863, the eastern part of the municipality (population: 2,537) was separated to become the new [[Dovre Municipality]]. This left Lesja with 3,666 residents.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Lesja (village)|Lesja]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Lesjar}}) since the first [[Lesja Church]] was built there. There are two different interpretations of the meaning of the name. It might derive from {{lang|non|læs}} meaning "[[pasture]]", or it is a shortened version of {{lang|non|Leirsjøar}} meaning "muddy lakes", referring to two relatively large and shallow lakes which occupied the valley bottom until the late 19th century, when both lakes were drained in order to gain more [[Arable land|farmland]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DohBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt |date=1900 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=4 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=14 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Lesje''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Lesja''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 23 January 1987. The official [[blazon]] is "Per fess [[argent]] and [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]], a [[Pile (heraldry)|pile]] issuant from the base" ({{langx|no|På sølv grunn blå skjoldfot med spiss oppover}}). This means the arms have are divided with a [[line (heraldry)|line]] that is horizontal with a triangle point upwards in the middle. The [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) below the line has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of blue. Above 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 design is meant to represent the [[spire]] of [[Lesja Church]], which sits on a hill and its roof line and spire are visible from far away. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold. 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=Lesja |access-date=2022-11-10 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-01-23 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-01-23-51 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lesja, Oppland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-05-12.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Lesja. It is part of the [[Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Hamar]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Lesja'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Lesja og Lesjaskog||[[Lesja Church]]||[[Lesja (village)|Lesja]]||1749
|-
|[[Lesjaskog Church]]||[[Lesjaskog]]||1697
|-
|[[Lesjaverk Church]]||[[Lesjaverk]]||1964
|}