Forsand is a former municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

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 t ...

. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies ...

municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality was the village of Forsand. Other villages in the municipality included

Lysebotn Lysebotn is a village in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the eastern end of the Lysefjorden in a very isolated valley that is only accessible by one road or by boat. The name itself means the "bottom nd ...

Øvre Espedal Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the ...

Oanes Oanes is a small farming village in Strand Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the intersection between the Lysefjorden and Høgsfjorden, just north of the village of Forsand. The Norwegian National Road 13 runs t ...

Kolabygda Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the ...

, and

Fløyrli Forsand is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the Traditional districts of Norw ...

. Forsand municipality surrounded the famous Lysefjorden and it was located on the east side of the

Høgsfjorden Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Strand, and Gjesdal. The innermost part of the fjord is located at the village of Frafjord in the municipality of Gjesdal. It flows west to D ...

. In 1999, evidence of a population here dating back to around 7500 BC was located. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, it was one of the largest municipalities within the county of Rogaland in terms of area, and one of the smallest in terms of population. The municipality was the 141st largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Forsand was the 376th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,245. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was and its population has increased by 12.9% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of ''Fossan'' was established on 1 January 1871 when the very large municipality of Høgsfjord was divided into two: Fossan (located east of the

and south of the

Frafjorden Frafjorden is a fjord in the municipalities of Gjesdal and Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The fjord is the innermost branch of the Høgsfjorden. The Frafjorden has steep sides with no habitation along its shores, except for the village of Fr ...

) and

Høle Høle is a previous borough and a village in the eastern part of Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway, located along the Høgsfjorden. The area was historically a part of the municipality of Høle. Høle Church and Høle School ar ...

(located west of the Høgsfjorden). Initially, Fossan had 2,081 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1965, the municipality was split, with everything located south and east of the

being transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal. The reason for this border change was because this area had no road connection with the rest of Forsand, but it was connected by road to Gjesdal. On 1 January 2020, Forsand municipality was dissolved. The area on the northwestern shore of the Lysefjorden around the Preikestolen became a part of the neighboring

Strand Municipality Strand is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Jørpeland. The municipality lies across the fjord from the city of Stavanger ...

and the rest of Forsand became part of

Sandnes Municipality Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes li ...

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

) is named after the old '' Forsand'' farm ( non, Forsandr), since the first

Forsand Church Forsand Church ( no, Forsand kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the eastern part of the large Sandnes Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Forsand, near the mouth to the Lysefjorden. It is ...

was built there. The first element is the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

''for'' which means "outsticking" and the last element is ''sandr'' which means "

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

" or "sandy

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

". Before 1918, the name was written ''"Fossan"''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 11 March 1988. The arms show a white

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

on a green background. They were designed by John Digernes to represent a common bird in the area.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has one parish () within the municipality of Forsand. It is part of the Ryfylke prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

Geography

Forsand was a large municipality that is very mountainous with a long, narrow fjord running through the middle from east to west. The Lysefjorden is surrounded by very steep tall cliffs such as Kjerag and Preikestolen, with the

Lysefjord Bridge Lysefjord Bridge no, Lysefjordbrua is a suspension bridge over the Lysefjorden in Rogaland county, Norway. The bridge connects the municipalities of Strand (on the north end of the bridge) and Sandnes (on the south end of the bridge). Construct ...

crossing the fjord near the western end. The famous

Kjeragbolten Kjeragbolten (English: ''Kjerag Bolt'') is a boulder on the mountain Kjerag in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The rock itself is a glacial deposit wedged in a large crevice in the mountain. It is a popular tourist destination ...

boulder and

Kjeragfossen Kjeragfossen is a waterfall in the municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The waterfall cascades down from the Kjerag plateau on the south shore of the Lysefjorden. It is one of the highest waterfalls in Norway and one of the high ...

waterfall are located along the inner part of the fjord. The village of

lies at the eastern end of the fjord. The lake

Nilsebuvatnet Nilsebuvatnet is a lake in the municipalities of Sandnes and Hjelmeland in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake lies in the Lyseheiane mountains about north of the village of Lysebotn and about east of the village of Årdal. The lake is regulat ...

is located high up in the mountains, north of

on the border of Strand and Forsand municipalities. It is regulated for hydroelectric power use at the

Lysebotn Hydroelectric Power Station The Lysebotn Power Station is a hydroelectric power station located in the municipality Sandnes in Rogaland, Norway. The facility operates at an installed capacity of . The average annual production is 1,242 GWh. It has produced 63 TWh since ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Forsand, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen 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 (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

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 o ...

, 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 counci ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect 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 a ...

. The municipality falls under the Ryfylke District Court 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 Forsand was made up of 17 representatives that were 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 feature f ...

breakdown for the councils was as follows:

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

Ryfylke visitors websiteLive web camera from Lysefjord, Forsand
{{use dmy dates, date=July 2020 Sandnes Strand, Norway Former municipalities of Norway 1871 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway