A prestegjeld was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (Den Norske Kirke) roughly equivalent to a parish.
This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas that were led by a parish priest.
Within a prestegjeld, there were usually one or more clerical positions (chaplains) serving under the administration of a head minister (sogneprest or sokneprest).
In 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law was passed in Norway and it created civil municipalities that corresponded to the same borders as the ecclesiastical prestegjelds.
[citation needed] Historically, the government employed all the priests working in all of the prestegjelds across Norway.