Tolga is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of ÃÂsterdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tolga. Other villages in the municipality include Hodalen, ÃÂversjødalen, and Vingelen.
The municipality is the 99th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Tolga Municipality is the 301st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,606. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 3.3% over the previous 10-year period.
The parish of Tolgen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1911, the new Engerdal Municipality was established by merging the southeastern portion of Tolga Municipality (population: 201) and portions of neighboring ÃÂvre Rendal Municipality, Ytre Rendal Municipality, and Trysil Municipality. On 1 July 1926, the northern parish of Os (population: 1,936) was separated to become the new Os Municipality. This left Tolga Municipality with 1,917 residents. In 1927, a small part of Tolga Municipality (population: 18) was transferred to the neighboring Os Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1966, Tolga Municipality (population: 1,944) and Os Municipality (population: 2,015) were merged to form the new Tolga-Os Municipality. This merger was not well received by the residents and soon after the merger, they began working towards separating once again. On 1 January 1976, Tolga-Os Municipality was divided into Tolga Municipality (population: 1,865) and Os Municipality (population: 1,859), using their historic borders from before 1966.
Historically, the municipality was part of Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tolga farm since the first Tolga Church was built there (in 1688). The name comes from the small river which flows through the area (now known as the river Tolja). The name of the river may come from the word ( which means "young pine tree". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Tolgen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Tolga.
The coat of arms was granted on 14 July 1989. The official blazon is "Gules, a bell Or" (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a bell. The bell has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. Tolga was home to the (a smelting hut) from 1666 to 1871. The bell represents the old bell from Amsterdam that was in a building in the village square since 1708. The smeltery was important because of the prevalence of mining in the area. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The Church of Norway has four parishes () within Tolga Municipality. It is part of the Nord-ÃÂsterdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.
Tolga 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 Hedmarken og ÃÂsterdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.
The municipal council of Tolga Municipality is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor () of Tolga is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
Tolga lies in the northeastern part of Innlandet county. The river GlÃÂ¥ma runs through the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Elgspiggen, located on the border with Rendalen Municipality. The mountain HÃÂ¥mmÃÂ¥lsfjellet lies on the border with Os Municipality. The lake Langsjøen is located just south of the village of ÃÂversjødalen in the southeastern part of the municipality.
The municipality is bordered in the east by Tynset Municipality, in the south by Rendalen Municipality, and in the east by Engerdal Municipality and Os Municipality, all in Innlandet county.