| Tovdal | |
| Herred: | yes |
| Former: | yes |
| Former Name: | Lille Topdal herred |
| Idnumber: | 0931 |
| County: | Aust-Agder |
| District: | Østre Agder |
| Capital: | Hillestad |
| Established: | 1 Jan 1908 |
| Preceded: | Åmli Municipality |
| Disestablished: | 1 Jan 1967 |
| Succeeded: | Åmli Municipality |
| Area Total Km2: | 377 |
| Population As Of: | 1967 |
| Population Total: | 161 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Coordinates: | 58.8067°N 8.175°W |
Tovdal (historic: Lille Topdal) is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 377km2 municipality existed from 1908 until its dissolution in 1967. Tovdal municipality was made up of the valley surrounding the river Tovdalselva and since 1967 it has been a part of the present-day municipality of Åmli which is now in Agder county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Hillestad where the Tovdal Church is located.[1]
The parish of Lille Topdal was a part of the municipality of Åmli when civil municipalities were created in Norway on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The municipality of Lille Topdal was established on 1 January 1908 when the municipality of Åmli was split into three separate municipalities: Lille Topdal (population: 389), Gjevedal (population: 590), and Åmli (population: 2,024). In 1922, the name of the municipality was changed from Lille Topdal to Tovdal. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1967, Tovdal (population: 161) was merged back into the municipality of Åmli. At the time of its dissolution, Tovdal was the smallest municipality in Norway by population.[2]
The municipality (originally the parish) was first named "Lille Topdal" after the Topdalen valley (Norse, Old: Þofnardalr). The first element comes from the old name for the local river Tovdalselva. That name is likely derived from the word which means "mound" or "tuft". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". The prefix of the name is which means "little".[3] Historically, the name of the municipality was Lille Topdal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to simply Tovdal, dropping the prefix lille and changing the p to a v.[4]
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[5]
The municipal council Norwegian: (Herredsstyre) of Tovdal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.