Editing Flå

{{other uses}}
{{Infobox kommune
| name               = Flå
| native_name        =
| native_name_lang   =
| other_name         =
| official_name      =
| idnumber           = 3320
| image_skyline      = Flaa Kommune Verwaltung.jpg
| image_caption      = Flå Municipality Office
| county             = Buskerud
| district           = Hallingdal
| capital            = [[Flå (village)|Flå]]
| demonym            = Fløværing
| language           = [[Bokmål]]
| coatofarms         = Flå komm.svg
| munwebpage         = www.flaa.kommune.no
| mayor              = Tor Egil Buøen 
| mayor_party        = [[Bygdeliste|LL]]
| mayor_as_of        = 2003
| area_rank          = 159
| area_total_km2      = 704
| area_land_km2       = 670
| area_water_percent  = 0.22
| population_as_of   = 2008
| population_rank    = 405
| population_total   = 974
| populationpercent  = 0.02
| population_density_km2= 1.5
| population_increase= -12.9
| coordinates        = {{coord|60|24|31|N|9|29|3|E|region:NO|display=inline,title}}
| utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6697047 | utm_easting = 0526678 | geo_cat = adm2nd
}}

'''Flå''' is a [[List of municipalities of Norway|municipality]] in [[Buskerud]] [[Counties of Norway|county]], [[Norway]].  The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flå.  The municipality of Flå was established when it was separated from the municipality of [[Nes, Buskerud|Nes]] on 1 January 1905.  The municipality lies at the most southeasterly point in the [[valley]] and [[Districts of Norway|traditional region]] of [[Hallingdal]].

==General information==
===Name===
The [[Old Norse]] form of the name was ''Flóða sokn'' (''sokn'' means [[parish]]). This is the [[plural]] [[genitive case]] of ''flœð'' meaning "[[flood]]" (probably because flooding has been a problem for many farms in the river valley).  Prior to 1921, the name was written ''"Flaa"''.

===Coat-of-arms===
The [[Coat of arms|coat-of-arms]] is from modern times.  They were granted on 1 March 1985.  The arms show a black [[bear]] on a gray/silver background.  This was chosen because there used to be many bears in the [[Vassfaret]] area.  Prior to 1985, the municipality used a logo with a bear walking through the area.<ref>{{cite web|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|year=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/f/fla.htm|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flaa.kommune.no/Om-Fla/Kommunevapenet/|title=Kommunevåpen for Flå kommune|publisher=Flå kommune|access-date=2009-01-06|language=no|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724180436/http://www.flaa.kommune.no/Om-Fla/Kommunevapenet/|archive-date=2011-07-24}}</ref>

{| style="float: center;" class="wikitable"
|+ '''Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Flå  by country of origin in 2017'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |title=Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population |language=en |publisher=ssb.no |access-date=29 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702101705/https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |archive-date=2 July 2015 }}</ref>
 
|-
! style="background:#efefef;"|Ancestry
! style="background:#efefef;"|Number
|-
| {{flag|Poland}}||28
|-
| {{flag|Syria}}||28
|-
| {{flag|Thailand}}||12
|}

==History==
Ancient routes went to [[Western Norway|Vestlandet]] through [[Valdres]] and Hallingdal and down [[Røldal]] to [[Odda]]. Reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres in [[Oppland]] to the north were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet and spoke a western [[dialect]]. In recognition of this, Cardinal [[Pope Adrian IV|Nicholas Breakespear]], who was in [[Scandinavia]] as [[papal legate]] in 1153, included Hallingdal in the [[Ancient Diocese of Stavanger|diocese of Stavanger]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Stagg, Frank Noel|title=East Norway and its Frontier|url=https://archive.org/details/eastnorwayitsfro00stag|publisher=George Allen & Unwin, Ltd|year=1956}}</ref>

==Geography==
Flå  is the southernmost municipality within Hallingdal and forms the gateway to Hallingdal from the south. Flå is bordered in the north by [[Sør-Aurdal]], in the east by [[Ringerike (municipality)|Ringerike]], in the south by [[Krødsherad]] and [[Sigdal]], in the west by [[Nore og Uvdal]], and in the northwest by [[Nes, Buskerud|Nes]]. Travelers from the south pass through the 65 m long tunnel Hallingporten  on [[Norwegian National Road 7]] (''Riksvei 7'') just located north of Gulsvik.

[[Vassfaret]] is a forested mountain valley bordering Flå. The [[Norefjell]] mountain range also includes parts of Flå as well as [[Nes, Buskerud|Nes]], [[Ringerike (municipality)|Ringerike]] and [[Sør-Aurdal]] municipalities.   Lake [[Krøderen (lake)|Krøderen]]  (''Krøderfjord'') stretches about 41&nbsp;km north from the village of [[Krøderen (village)|Krøderen]] and reaches to [[Gulsvik]]. The [[Hallingdalselva]] river flows into the lake from the north. The area includes the Vassfaret and Vidalen Conservation area which includes  Festningen Nature Reserve and Bukollen Nature Reserve as well as the Inner Vassfaret Conservation area which includes Bringen Nature Reserve.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00000561|title=   Vassfaret og Vidalen landskapsvernområde|publisher= naturbase.no 
|access-date= December 1, 2017}}</ref>
.<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00000566|title= Indre Vassfaret landskapsvernområde|publisher= naturbase.no|access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
* [[Kolbjørn Buøen]] (1895–1975) a Norwegian actor <ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0125668/  IMDb Database] retrieved 15 August 2020</ref>
* [[Fredrik Gulsvik]] (born 1989) a Norwegian former footballer with over 100 club caps

==Attractions== 
Bjørneparken is located on Vikberget in Flå. The park is a sanctuary featuring various animals including bears, elk, deer, wolf, and lynx.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bjorneparken.no/om-bjorneparken-2/|title=   Om Bjørneparken |publisher= Bjørneparken AS 
|access-date= December 1, 2017}}</ref>

==Protected areas==
* Bringen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00001877|title= Bringen naturreservat
 |publisher= naturbase.no|access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>
* Bukollen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00000616|title= Bukollen naturreservat|publisher= naturbase.no |access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>
* Festningen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00000644 |title= Festningen naturreservat|publisher= naturbase.no |access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>
* Flenten Nature Reserve, established 24 September 1993<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00001031|title= Flenten naturreservat|publisher= naturbase.no |access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>
* Stavnselva Nature Reserve, established 13 December 2002<ref>{{cite web|url= http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00001994http://faktaark.naturbase.no/Vern?id=VV00001031|title= Stavnselva naturreservat |publisher= naturbase.no |access-date= October 1, 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Protected areas of Norway]]

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Vidalen.JPG |Vidalen 
File:Bukollen.JPG|Bukollen 
File:Flaa Stavn.JPG|Stavnselva
File:Krøderen1.jpg|Lake Krøderen
File:Flå kirke 2012.jpg|Flå Church
File:Hallingporten.jpg|Hallingporten road tunnel 
File:2012-07 Bjørneparken 03.jpg|Bjørneparken
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Flå}}
*{{wiktionary-inline|Flå}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001005706/http://www.ssb.no/english/municipalities/0615 Municipal fact sheet] from [[Statistics Norway]]
*{{Wikivoyage inline|Buskerud}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070310223830/http://www.kulturnett.no/geografisknavigering/geografisknavigering_visning.jsp?fylke=T952798&kommune=T950399 Culture in Flå on the map] from [[Kulturnett.no]]

{{Buskerud}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fla}}
[[Category:Flå| ]]
[[Category:Hallingdal]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Buskerud]]