Vindafjord
Vindafjord is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. Since 2005, the administrative centre of the municipality has been the village of Ølensjøen, prior to that time it was the village of Sandeid. Other villages in the municipality include Bjoa, Imslandsjøen, Ølensvåg, Skjold, Vats, Vikebygd, and Vikedal. The municipality is centered on the Vindafjorden and Sandeidfjorden in the east and it lies north and east of the Skjoldafjorden in the west.
Vindafjord kommune | |
|---|---|
 View of the municipal centre of Ølensjøen | |
 Coat of arms  Rogaland within Norway | |
 Vindafjord within Rogaland | |
| Coordinates: 59°32′44″N 05°49′05″E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Rogaland |
| District | Haugaland |
| Administrative centre | Ølensjøen |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2011) | Ole Johan Vierdal (Sp) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 620.59 km2 (239.61 sq mi) |
| • Land | 598.73 km2 (231.17 sq mi) |
| • Water | 21.86 km2 (8.44 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 181 in Norway |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Total | 8,828 |
| • Rank | 128 in Norway |
| • Density | 14.7/km2 (38/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) | 8.8% |
| Demonym(s) | Vindafjording[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1160 |
| Official language form | Nynorsk[2] |
| Website | www |
The 621-square-kilometre (240 sq mi) municipality is the 181st largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Vindafjord is the 128th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,828. The municipality's population density is 14.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (38/sq mi) and its population has increased by 8.8% over the last decade.[3]
General information
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the new municipality of Vindafjord was created from several areas in northern Rogaland county:
- all of Sandeid municipality (population: 876)
- the Liarheim og Langeland areas of Skjold municipality on the north side of the Skjoldafjorden (population: 1,262)
- all of Vats municipality except for the Breidal and Stølsvik farms (population: 1,128)
- all of Imsland municipality located north of the Vindafjorden (population: 372)
- all of Vikedal municipality except for the Hapnes and Dokskar farms (population: 978)
Initially, Vindafjord had 4,616 residents. On 1 January 1969, the Sponevik farm (population: 6) was transferred from Vindafjord to the neighboring municipality of Tysvær. Then on 1 January 1978, the Vormestrand area along the southern shore of the Vindafjorden (population: 13) was transferred to neighboring Suldal municipality.[4]
On 1 January 2006, Vindafjord merged with the neighboring municipality of Ølen (population: 3,420). Ølen had transferred from Hordaland county to Rogaland county 2002. After the merger, the municipal centre of Vindafjord was moved from Sandeid to the village of Ølensjøen, which had been the administrative centre of Ølen.[5]
Name
The municipality (created in 1965) is named after the Vindafjorden, a fjord that runs through the eastern part of the municipality. The first element is probably derived from the verb vinda which means "turn" or "twist" referring to the sharp turn of the fjord at Dragneset.[6]
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms were granted on 10 March 2006, shortly after the merger of Ølen with Vindafjord. The new arms are a mix of the old arms of the two municipalities before the merger. The swirling design is taken from the old coat-of-arms of Ølen and the colours (red and silver/white) are from the old arms of Vindafjord. The swirling design of the arms show in a symbolized way all the roads that come together in the municipality. The municipality thus is an important centre of trade.[6][7]
- Current arms since 2006.
Arms from 1986 until 2005.
Arms of Ølen (used from 1986 to 2005 when it merged with Vindafjord)
Churches
The Church of Norway has eight parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Vindafjord. It is part of the Haugaland deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.
| Parish (Sokn) | Church Name | Location of the Church | Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bjoa | Bjoa Church | Bjoa | 1895 |
| Imsland | Imsland Church | Imslandsjøen | 1861 |
| Sandeid | Sandeid Church | Sandeid | 1904 |
| Skjold | Skjold Church | Skjold | 1999 |
| Vats | Vats Church | Vats | 1855 |
| Vikebygd | Vikebygd Church | Vikebygd | 1937 |
| Vikedal | Vikedal Church | Vikedal | 1881 |
| Ølen | Ølen Church | Ølensjøen | 1874 |
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Vindafjord, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vindafjord is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[8]
| Party Name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
| Progress Party (Framstegspartiet) | 2 | |
| Conservative Party (Høgre) | 3 | |
| Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 3 | |
| Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 10 | |
| Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
| Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 | |
| Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 | |
| Total number of members: | 25 | |
Geography
The municipality of Vindafjord lies south of the Hardangerfjorden and north of the Skjoldafjorden and Vindafjorden. The Sandeidfjorden flows through the municipality also. The lake Vatsvatnet lies in the central part of the municipality. The municipality sits near the base of the Haugalandet peninsula, connecting the mainland to the city of Haugesund on the western end of the peninsula. The European route E134 highway runs through the municipality.
References
- "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
- Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
- Store norske leksikon. "Ølen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-08-19.
- Store norske leksikon. "Vindafjord" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-08-19.
- "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
- "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
External links
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
 |
|  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||