Editing Vestre Toten (section)

==General information==
Vestre Toten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1875, there was a border adjustment between [[Østre Toten Municipality]] and Vestre Toten Municipality. On 1 January 1908, the municipality was divided into three parts: [[Kolbu (municipality)|Kolbu Municipality]] (population: 2,412) in the southeast, [[Eina (municipality)|Eina Municipality]] (population: 1,173) in the southwest, and Vestre Toten Municipality (population: 4,027) in the north. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Vestre Toten 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>
*all of the old Vestre Toten Municipality (population: 9,113)
*the Sørligrenda area of [[Vardal|Vardal Municipality]] (population: 87)
*all of the old [[Eina Municipality]] (population: 1,591)
*the area on the south end of the lake [[Einavatnet]] from [[Gran Municipality]] (population: 12)

===Name===
The municipality is named ''Vestre Toten'' after the district of [[Toten]] ({{langx|non|Þótn}}). The name is identical with the word {{lang|non|Þótn}} which has an uncertain meaning, but it might be from the word {{lang|non|þóttr}} which means "the pleasant district" or "something one likes". The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of Toten was divided into two parts (eastern and western) in 1825 and the first word, {{wikt-lang|no|vestre}} was added to signify that this was the "western" part, thus the name was ''Vestre Toten'' which means "(the) western (part of) Toten".<ref name="snl" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJMOAAAAYAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (anden halvdel) |date=1902 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=4-2 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=49 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> {{See also|Østre Toten#Name}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 3 May 1991. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Vert (heraldry)|Vert]], two knives [[argent]] in [[bend sinister]] points to base [[Dexter and sinister|dexter]]"'' ({{langx|no|I grønt to sølv kniver skråstilt venstre-høyre}}). This means the arms have a green [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is two [[Knife|knives]] that are lined up diagonally (specifically a special locally-produced knife known as a ''Toten knife''). The charge 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 green color in the field symbolizes the local forests and agriculture and the knife was chosen since the area has a long tradition of [[wood carving]] and knife making. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. 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=Vestre_Toten |access-date=2023-04-23 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vestre Toten, Oppland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-05-29.html |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1991-05-10 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1991-05-10-308 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-04 |title=Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.vestre-toten.kommune.no/grafisk-profil/kommunevapen |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Vestre Toten kommune |language=no}}</ref> {{See also-text|Coat-of-arms of [[Gjerstad#Coat of arms|Gjerstad]]}}

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has three parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Vestre Toten. It is part of the [[Toten prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Hamar]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Vestre Toten'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Eina||[[Eina Church]]||[[Eina]]||1890
|-
|rowspan="1"|Raufoss||[[Raufoss Church]]||[[Raufoss]]||1939
|-
|rowspan="1"|Ås||[[Ås Church (Innlandet)|Ås Church]]||[[Bøverbru]]||1921
|}