Våler, Østfold

Våler Municipality

*Våler kommune*
Våler Municipality Våler kommune
Municipality
	Våler church
	Flag Coat of arms
	Viken within Norway
	Våler within Viken
	Coordinates: 59°28′21″N 10°55′1″E / 59.47250°N 10.91694°E
Country	Norway
County	Viken
Administrative centre	Kirkebygden
Government
• Mayor (2011)	Reidar Kaabbel (Sp)
Area
• Total	257 km2 (99 sq mi)
• Land	239 km2 (92 sq mi)
• Rank	#298 in Norway
Population (2016)
• Total	5,335
• Density	21/km2 (54/sq mi)
Demonym	Vålersokning
Official language
• Norwegian form	Bokmål
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3018
Website	Official website
	Data from Statistics Norway

Våler is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is Kirkebygden. The parish of Vaaler was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Válir. This is the plural form of váll which means "a clearing in the woods". Prior to 1921, the name was written "Vaaler".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 20 June 1986. The arms are based on the arms of the local Bolt family, who held several high functions in the 13th and 14th centuries. The arms are already seen in the seal of Agmund Berdorsson Bolt from 1400. The arms show a blue background divided in half vertically. On the left is half of a silver fleur-de-lis and on the right there are two yellow chevrons.^[4]^[5]

Våler Church

Våler Church (Våler kirke) is a medieval era church. The church was built in Romanesque style between 1150 and 1200. Over the years the church has been rebuilt and remodeled several times. One of the church's bells are probably cast before 1160. The altarpiece was given to the church in 1636. The octagonal font and ceiling above originates from 1697 and is carved in wood. The paintings hanging on the west and north walls of the nave is from around 1790.^[6]

Minority population

**Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Våler by country of origin in 2017**^[7]
Ancestry	Number
Poland	235
Lithuania	75
Sweden	42
Bosnia-Herzegovina	38
Vietnam	36

References

^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-12-15.
^ "Kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Våler kommune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
^ Sigrid Marie Christie, Håkon Christie. "Våler kirke". Norges Kirker. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
^ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

External links

Media related to Våler, Viken at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of Våler at Wiktionary
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Østfold travel guide from Wikivoyage

[1] "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.

[2] "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.

[3] Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.

[4] Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-12-15.

[5] "Kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Våler kommune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-15.

[6] Sigrid Marie Christie, Håkon Christie. "Våler kirke". Norges Kirker. Retrieved October 1, 2016.

[7] "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population". ssb.no. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

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