Stange, Innlandet County, Eastern Norway Region, Norway

🇳🇴 Stange is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen. Other villages include Bekkelaget, Espa, Bottenfjellet, Ilseng, Ottestad, Sandvika, Sinnerud, Starhellinga, Tangen, and Romedal.

The 724-square-kilometre (280 sq mi) municipality is the 157th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Stange is the 59th most populous municipality in Norway. The municipality's population density is 33.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (86/sq mi) and its population has increased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The parish of Stange was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Romedal and Stange were merged to form a new, larger municipality of Stange. On 13 July 1956, a small part of the municipality of Vang was transferred to Stange municipality.

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Stange farm (Old Norse: Stangir) since the first Stange Church was built there. The name is the plural form of stǫng which means "bar", "pole", or "rod". (The farm is lying on a long hill, and this is probably the background for the name.)

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 20 June 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a plough argent" (Norwegian: I grønt en sølv ard). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a medieval plough called an ard. The charge 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 symbolizes this historic importance of agriculture in the area; originally the growing of grains and then later growing potatoes. The arms were designed by Arne Løvstad. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has five parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Stange. It is part of the Hamar domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Media The newspaper Stangeavisa has been published in Stange since 2004.

History Archeological finds indicate agricultural settlements in the area well before the Viking Age. Since the shortest route from the south to Hamar went through the area, there have also been trade and hospitality there since time immemorial. Stange has its own historical association that publishes articles, short research topics, as well as authoritative works on the area's history.

Stange Church is located in Stangebyen. The church is mentioned in 1225 in Håkon Håkonsen's saga and the current church building was constructed around the year 1250.

The Atlungstad Distillery was established in Stange in 1855.

Geography The municipality is situated on the east side of the lake Mjøsa. It borders the municipalities of Hamar on the north; Løten, Våler, and Åsnes to the east; Nord-Odal to the south; and Eidsvoll to the west.

The municipality can be roughly divided into two areas: the northern area, with rich and fertile agricultural land; and a southern area with craggy, forested area (the Stange Commons). As a result, the northern section is dominated by large, prosperous farms; the southern part by small, marginal farms. The rivers Lageråa and Svartelva both run through the municipality.

Government Stange Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Stange is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms.