Editing Lyngdal (section)

==History==
[[File:Pop. Lyngdal, 1900 - 2001.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Population of Lyngdal, 1900-2001 ([[Statistisk Sentralbyrå|SSB]]).]]
The island of [[Sælør]] on the southern coast of the municipality is mentioned in [[Snorri Sturluson|Snorre]], as the king [[Olaf II of Norway|Saint Olav]] spent a winter here in 1028. Based around the port of [[Agnefest]], Lyngdal prospered on maritime trade, and in 1771 an application was made for status as a small coastal town. Its coastal location also facilitated emigration; in the 17th and 18th century largely to the [[Dutch Republic]], and in the 19th century to the [[United States]].

Even before the merger of the municipalities in 1964, the [[parish]]es of Austad and Kvås, together with Å (or ''Aa'' - Lyngdal proper), made up the greater Lyngdal parish. A census from 1801 showed 3529 inhabitants in the area that today makes up Lyngdal: 1850 in Å, 929 in Austad, 585 in Kvås and 165 in the eastern part of Spangereid. The number today is approximately 8000 inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=Folkemengde ved folketellingene, 1769-2001 |url=http://www.ssb.no/fob/kommunehefte/1032/fob_1032_tabeller.pdf |access-date=2008-01-09 |publisher=[[Statistisk Sentralbyrå]] |language=no}}</ref>

Religious life and missionary work have always had a strong position in Lyngdal, and worthy of special note is the minister Gabriel Kielland (1796–1854), who served in the parish from 1837 to 1854, and his wife [[Gustava Kielland|Gustava]] (1800–1889). Known today as a missionary pioneer and a popular songwriter, Gustava also wrote one of the first autobiographies by a woman in Norway: her "''Reminiscence from my Life''" from 1880.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.lyngdal.kommune.no/getfile.aspx/document/epcx_id/570/epdd_id/292 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420055554/http://www.lyngdal.kommune.no/getfile.aspx/document/epcx_id/570/epdd_id/292 |archive-date=2012-04-20 |access-date=2008-01-09 |publisher=Lyngdal Municipality}}</ref>

{{wide image|Lyngdal panorama.jpg|770px|Panorama of Lyngdal, Vest-Agder}}