Åseral

Åseral is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The administrative center is the village of Kyrkjebygda.The parish of Bjelland had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikts on 1 January 1838. This is because the main part of Bjelland belonged to the county of Vest-Agder, while the annex Aaseral belonged to the county of Aust-Agder. Åseral was transferred from the county of Aust-Agder to the county of Vest-Agder on 1 September 1880.

It is an inland municipality, bordering on the county of Aust-Agder in the east and north. In the south, it borders on the municipality of Audnedal, in the south-east on Hægebostad, and in the west on Kvinesdal.The Old Norse form of the name was Ásaráll. The first part of the word is probably the genitive case of áss (m.), meaning "mountain ridge". The last part, áll (m.) means "long strip", probably referring to the long and narrow lake Øre.