Gloppen 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 ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Nordfjord Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the muni ...

. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas:

Hyen Straume or Hyen is a village in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland, Norway. The village lies near the southern end of the Hyefjorden near the mouths of the rivers Åelva and Hopelva. Straume is located about northeast of the lake Eimhjellevatnet, ...

in the west, Gloppen in the center, and

Breim Breim is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Nordfjord in the eastern part of the present-day Gloppen Municipality which is now in Vestland county. The municipality existe ...

in the east. Each of the areas have their own main service centres.

Sandane Sandane is the administrative centre of the municipality of Gloppen in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Gloppefjorden, along the European route E39 highway. Sandane is south of the village of Nordfjordeid and about we ...

, 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, is the largest with about 2,500 inhabitants. Sandane,

Vereide Vereide is a village in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the central part of the eastern shore of the Gloppefjorden, along the European route E39 highway. It sits about northwest of the municipal ce ...

, and Sørstranda are centered on the

Gloppefjorden Gloppefjorden or Gloppenfjorden is a fjord in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord flows from the village of Sandane in the southeast to its mouth at the Nordfjorden in the northwest. The river Gloppeelva is the pri ...

in Gloppen in the central part of the municipality. The villages of

Byrkjelo Byrkjelo is a village in the municipality of Gloppen in Vestland county, Norway. It is located about halfway between the villages of Sandane (in Gloppen) and Skei (in Sunnfjord) along the European route E39 highway. The village of Re lies abou ...

, Re, Kandal, and Egge are centered on the lake

Breimsvatnet Breimsvatn or Breimsvatnet is a lake in the municipalities of Gloppen and Sunnfjord in Vestland county, Norway. At , it is the largest lake in Gloppen (followed by the lake Emhjellevatnet). The European route E39 highway runs along the north ...

in the Breim area in the east. The villages of Straume,

Eimhjellen Eimhjellen is a village in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Hyen Straume or Hyen is a village in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland, Norway. The village lies near the southern end of the Hyefjorden near the ...

, and Solheim are located around the

Hyefjorden Hyefjorden is a fjord in Gloppen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long Hyefjorden is relatively narrow with steep rock walls located close to the fjord on both sides. The west side is where impassable mountains plunge straight into t ...

in Hyen in the west. The whole municipality sits on the southern side of the large Nordfjorden. The

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eu ...

highway runs through the municipality before crossing the Nordfjorden on a car ferry. The

Sandane Airport, Anda Sandane Airport ( no, Sandane lufthavn; ) is a regional airport serving the village of Sandane in Vestland county, Norway. It perpendicularly straddles the Anda peninsula in Gloppen Municipality between the Nordfjorden and Gloppefjorden. The air ...

is located along the E39 highway, just north of

. The municipality is the 112th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gloppen is the 162nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,875. 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 ...

is and its population has increased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Gloppen was established as a

on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). The original municipality was identical to the Gloppen

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 ...

''(

prestegjeld 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 tha ...

)'' including the sub-parishes () of Gimmestad,

, and

. On 1 January 1886, the sub-parish of Breim (population: 1,823) was separated from Gloppen to form its own municipality. This left Gloppen with 2,970 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 1964, the municipality of Breim (population: 1,731) was merged back into the municipality of Gloppen. After the merger, the population of Gloppen was 5,702. On 1 January 1965, the Hoplandsgrenda area (population: 42) of Gloppen municipality (on the northern shore of the Nordfjorden) was transferred to neighboring Stryn Municipality. On 1 January 1992, the

Lote Lote may refer to: Places * Lote, Norway, a village in Eid municipality, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway *Lote, India, an area in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra People *Denis Kiwanuka Lote (1938–2022), Ugandan Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop ...

area of Gloppen (also on the north side of the Nordfjorden) was transferred to

Eid Municipality Eid is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Nordfjordeid was the administrative center of the municipality. Other larger villages in Eid include ...

. This left all of Gloppen located south of the Nordfjorden. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created

county after

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

and

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

counties were merged.

Name

The name ( non, Gloppi) was originally the name of a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

(now

). The name is probably derived from the word ''gloppa'' which means "narrow opening".

Coat of arms

The municipal

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 19 December 1986. It shows a silver-colored

fjord horse The Fjord Horse or Norwegian Fjord Horse ( no, fjordhest) is a relatively small but very strong horse breed from the mountainous regions of western Norway. It is an agile breed of light draught horse build. All Fjord horses are dun in colour, ...

on a blue background. This was chosen since these horses are bred 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 four parishes () within the municipality of Gloppen. It is part of the

Nordfjord prosti Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the mun ...

(

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Gloppen, 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,

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 (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

Sogn og Fjordane District Court Sogn og Fjordane District Court ( no, Sogn og Fjordane 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 Førde (town), Førde and Sognd ...

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 Gloppen is made up of 27 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 feature f ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The

of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. The mayors of Gloppen (incomplete list): *2015–present: Leidulf Gloppestad ( Sp) *1999-2015: Anders Ryssdal (Sp) *1988-1999:

Nils R. Sandal Nils Reielson Sandal (born 9 June 1950 in Breim) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Sogn og Fjordane during the term 1997–2001. On the local level, he serv ...

(Sp) *1976-1988: Olav Moritsgård (Sp) *1968-1975: Ola M. Hestenes (Sp)

Geography

The municipality is located southern shores of the Nordfjorden. To the north is the municipality of Eid, to the east is

Stryn Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of t ...

, to the south is

Naustdal Naustdal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre was the village of Naustdal, which has 1,188 inhabitants (2017). Other village ...

and

Jølster Jølster is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre was the village of Skei. Other villages in the municipality included Helgheim, Ålhus, Vass ...

, and to the west is

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and Bremanger. There are two fjords that branch off the main fjord into Gloppen:

and

. Gloppen has a natural landscape with virtually unspoiled nature ranging from sea level up to high-alpine mountains of some height.

Snønipa Snønipa is a mountain in Vestland county, Norway. The tall mountain lies on the border of the municipalities of Sunnfjord and Gloppen. It forms a nunatak of the Myklebustbreen Myklebustbreen or Snønipbreen is the seventh largest glacier in ...

is the highest mountain in the municipality and is located at the

Myklebustbreen Myklebustbreen or Snønipbreen is the seventh largest glacier in mainland Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Nordfjord, Gloppen, and Stryn in Vestland county. Its highest point is located just below the nunatak Snønipa, with an a ...

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

. The lakes

Breimsvatn Breimsvatn or Breimsvatnet is a lake in the municipalities of Gloppen and Sunnfjord in Vestland county, Norway. At , it is the largest lake in Gloppen (followed by the lake Emhjellevatnet). The European route E39 highway runs along the north en ...

and

Emhjellevatnet Eimhjellevatnet or Emhjellevatnet (also known as ''Storfjorden'') is a lake in Hyen area of Gloppen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The lake is located in the western part of the municipality near the border with Kinn Municipality. ...

are, respectively, the first and second largest lakes in Gloppen. There are also some large

s such as

Ålfotbreen The Ålfotbreen glacier is located in Vestland county, Norway. The glacier is located on the border of three municipalities in the Nordfjord region: Bremanger, Kinn, and Gloppen. It is located west of the village of Hyen, south of the village ...

Gjegnalundsbreen The Gjegnalundsbreen glacier is located in Vestland county, Norway. The glacier sits on the borders of the municipalities of Bremanger and Gloppen. The glacier sits on the eastern side of the tall mountain Blånibba, inside the Ålfotbreen l ...

, and

. The river Gloppeelva runs from the lake Breimsvatnet to the Gloppefjorden.

Climate

Gloppen has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), also known as a marine west coast climate. The wettest season is autumn and winter, with December as the wettest month. The driest season is April - August. The driest month May gets about a third of the average precipitation in December. The average daily high temperature varies from about in January and February to in July. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below ) in spring is 27 April and average date for first freeze in autumn is 15 October giving a frost-free season of 170 days (1981-2010 average). The Sandane weather station started recording in June 1957. There is also a weather station at Sandane Airport, showing similar temperatures.

glacier, partly in the municipality, is estimated to get around precipitation annually.

Gallery

Breimsvatnet.JPG,

lake Myklebustdalen-sanddal-fjordane.jpg, Myklebustdalen valley east of

Karnils tumulus - fjordview.jpg, Karnilshaugen from Gloppefjorden Gloppefjorden.JPG,

Economy

The dominant trades and industries in Gloppen are

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and farming. The municipal centre Sandane is also home to a college of secondary education and a branch of

Sogn og Fjordane University College Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

which specialized in music therapy (this school closed in 2005). The

Firda Upper Secondary School Firda Upper Secondary School ( no, Firda vidaregåande skule) is a school located in the town of Sandane in the municipality of Gloppen in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The highway passes just north of the school. The school features in the NRK ...

is located in

Attractions

Karnilshaugen

Gloppen is the site of Karnils

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

burial mound ( no, Karnilshaugen) from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

word ''haugr'' meaning mound or barrow. Karnilshaugen or ''Tinghaugen på Hauge'' is located on the Hauge farm west of

. Karnilshaugen is probably one of the ten largest mounds in

. The burial mound was built on top of Tinghaug, the site of a

Thing (assembly) A thing, german: ding, ang, þing, enm, thing. (that is, "assembly" or folkmoot) was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place at regular in ...

. Tinghaug was a place of public gathering, for cultural events and religious actions.Karnilshaugen på gården Hauge i Sandane, Gloppen, Norge (Solverv)
/ref>

Notable people

* Knut Gjengedal (1900 in Gloppen – 1973) a schoolteacher, novelist, short story writer and children's writer. * John Austrheim (1912 in Gloppen – 1995) a farmer and politician, Mayor of Gloppen 1955-1962 * Ola M. Hestenes (1919 in Gloppen – 2008) a politician, Mayor of Gloppen 1968-1976 *

(born 1950 in Breim) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Gloppen 1987–1999 *

Sigrid Moldestad Sigrid Terese Moldestad (born 19 July 1972, in Breim, Gloppen, Norway) is a Norwegian folk singer, musician, and instrumentalist who plays the fiddle as well as Hardanger fiddle. She performs solo or with Sigrid Moldestad and Band. She was also p ...

(born 1972 in Breim) a folk singer, musician,

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

r and instrumentalist * Anne-Pia Nygård (born 1977 in Sandane) a Norwegian diasabled writer

Sport

* Kjell Ove Hauge (born 1969 in Gloppen) a retired Norwegian shot putter and discus thrower *

Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (born 6 December 1971 in Nordfjordeid) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who competed from 1993 to 2012. A classical technique specialist, Hjelmeset's biggest success is the gold medal in the 50 km event at the ...

(born 1971 in Nordfjordeid) a former cross-country skier, bronze medallist in 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 ...

and team silver medallist at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

* Rune Bolseth (born 1980 in Gloppen) a retired Norwegian footballer with 430 club caps * Trude Raad (born 1990 in Breim) a deaf Norwegian track and field athlete

References

Other sources

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 ...

Google Maps: GloppenOfficial travel guide to Gloppen and the Nordfjord region
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 1838 establishments in Norway