Bjørnafjorden is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the

Midhordland Midhordland or Midthordland is a traditional district in the Vestlandet region of Norway. It consists of the central-west portion of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county), mostly including the islands and coastal fjord areas sur ...

region of the county. The administrative centre of Bjørnafjorden is the village of

Osøyro Osøyro is the administrative centre of Bjørnafjorden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies on the southwestern part of the Bergen Peninsula, along the western shore of the Fusafjorden, about south of the city centre of Be ...

. Other villages in the municipality include Eikelandsosen,

Fusa Fusa () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1856 until its dissolution in 2020. It was located east of the city of Bergen in the Midhordland region. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...

Holdhus Holdhus is a village in Bjørnafjorden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located about east of the village of Eikelandsosen. The village was the administrative centre of the old municipality of Hålandsdal which existed fr ...

Holmefjord Holmefjord is a village in the municipality of Bjørnafjorden in Vestland county, Norway. It is located near the shore along the Samnangerfjorden about northwest of the village of Eikelandsosen. Holmefjord is a small typical western Norwegian v ...

, Vinnes, Strandvik, Sundvord,

Hagavik Hagavik is a village in Bjørnafjorden (municipality), Bjørnafjorden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies immediately to the west of the municipal centre of Osøyro on the shore of the Skeisosen, an arm off the main Bjørnaf ...

, Halhjem,

Søfteland Søfteland or Syfteland is a village in Bjørnafjorden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It lies on the Bergen Peninsula, along the European route E39 highway, about north of the municipal centre of Osøyro and about south of the city o ...

Søre Øyane Søre Øyane is a village in the municipality of Bjørnafjorden (municipality), Bjørnafjorden in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on an archipelago in the Bjørnafjorden, off the western coast of the municipality, southeast of the larger i ...

, and Søvik. The municipality is the 205th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjørnafjorden is the 47th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 25,213. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is and its population has increased by 17.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Os and

were merged.

Name

The municipality is named after the local fjord:

Bjørnafjorden Bjørnafjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It runs through the municipalities of Austevoll, Bjørnafjorden, and Tysnes. The large island of Tysnesøya (and many small, surrounding islands such as Reksteren) lie along the south side ...

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

for Bjørnafjorden was adopted in 2019. The blue arms show a gold boat with two curved gold waves beneath it. The waves symbolize the water, but the curved design alludes to

rosemaling Rose-painting, , or is a Scandinavian decorative folk painting that flourished from the 1700s to the mid-19th century, particularly in Norway. In Sweden, rose-painting began to be called , c. 1901, for the region where it had been most popular ...

designs and the local

Giant's kettle A giant's kettle, also known as either a giant's cauldron, moulin pothole, or glacial pothole, is a typically large and cylindrical pothole drilled in solid rock underlying a glacier either by water descending down a deep moulin or by gravel r ...

s in Koldal in the municipality.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Bjørnafjorden. It is part of the

Fana prosti Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

( deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Bjørnafjorden, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

and other social services,

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

representatives, which in turn elects a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

. The municipality falls under the

Hordaland District Court Hordaland District Court ( no, Hordaland tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Vestland county, Norway. This court is based at two different courthouses which are located in Bergen and Lofthus, Vestland, Lofthus. The co ...

and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...

Municipal council

The

of Bjørnafjorden is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Notable people

* Haldor Johan Hanson (1856 in

– 1929), an American hymn writer, publisher and author *

Nils Tveit Nils Tveit (8 January 1876 – 13 July 1949) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hordaland in 1945, but died shortly before the end of the term. He was replaced by Knut Ytre-Arne. He ha ...

(1876 in Os – 1949), a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Os 1916 to 1940 *

Ragnvald Indrebø Ragnvald Andreas Indrebø (22 November 1891–26 June 1984) was a Norwegian Lutheran Bishop. He was born in Os. He was part of the movement to translate the Norwegian Bible into the Nynorsk written language during the 1930s. He edited the per ...

(1891 in Os – 1984), a Norwegian Lutheran Bishop of Bjørgvin * Mons Haukeland (1892 in Os – 1983), a Norwegian gymnastics teacher and military officer * Harald Slåttelid (1895 in Os – executed 1943), a trade unionist, newspaper editor and communist resistance member * Pål Sundvor (1920 in Fusa – 1992), journalist, novelist, children's writer, poet and playwright. * Trine Linborg (born 1965 in Os), a politician, mayor of Os * Terje Søviknes (born 1969), a politician, former

of Os & former

Minister of Petroleum and Energy The Minister of Petroleum and Energy ( no, Olje- og energiministeren) is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The current minister is Terje Aasland. The ministry is responsible for the government's ene ...

* Olve Eikemo (born 1973), stage name ''

Abbath Olve Eikemo (born 27 June 1973), better known by his stage name Abbath Doom Occulta or simply Abbath, is a Norwegian musician best known as a founding member of the black metal band Immortal. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with Old ...

'' a black metal musician, grew up in Lysefjorden * Maya Vik (born 1980), singer, songwriter and bass player, brought up in Os * Marius Neset (born 1985 in Os), a Norwegian jazz saxophonist * Ingrid Søfteland Neset (born 1992 in Os), an award-winning Norwegian classical flautist * Boy Pablo (born 1998), musician, grew up in Bergen and later in Os; real name ''Nicolas Muñoz''.

Sport

Kjersti Plätzer Kjersti Tysse Plätzer (born Tysse; 18 January 1972) is a Norwegian race walker, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, in the 20 kilometres race. She finished 12th in the same race in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athe ...

(born 1972 in Os), a race walker, twice silver medallist at the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

& 2008 Summer Olympics *

Egil Gjelland Egil Gjelland (born 12 November 1973) is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Egil Gjelland grew up in Voss, the home of many world class biathletes, and star ...

(born 1973), a former biathlete, team gold medallist at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

lives in Skjelbreid in Fusa *

Liv Grete Skjelbreid Liv Grete Skjelbreid (born 7 July 1974) from Hålandsdal, Fusa, near the city of Bergen in western Norway, is a former professional biathlete. On 20 March 2006, Liv Grete announced her retirement, effective at the end of the season which ended on ...

(born 1974 in Fusa), a biathlete, silver medallist at the

* Bjørn Dahl (born 1978 in Os), a retired footballer with almost 300 club caps *

Bjarte Haugsdal Bjarte Haugsdal (born 9 March 1990) is a Norwegian footballer who last played for Åsane Fotball in 1. divisjon. He has previously played for Os, Brann, Løv-Ham, Stabæk and Nest-Sotra/Øygarden. Career Early years Haugsdal grew up in Ly ...

(born 1990 in Os), a football player with over 250 club caps * Sverre Lunde Pedersen (born 1992 in Os), a

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

, son of Jarle Pedersen and two-time World Junior Champion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjørnafjorden (municipality) Municipalities of Vestland 2020 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 2020