Jæren is a traditional district in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a 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 479,892. The admin ...

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 other districts in Rogaland are

Dalane Dalane is a traditional district in the southwestern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund, and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway. It sits to the southeast of the very flat ...

, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in

, stretching from the municipality of Randaberg in the north to

Hå Hå is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varhaug. Other villages in Hå include Brusand, Hæen, ...

in the south. It includes the whole Stavanger Peninsula and the mainland area at its base. The coast is flat compared to the rest of the mountainous Norwegian coast, and it has sandy beaches along most of the coastline. The largest urban area in Jæren is the adjoining cities of Stavanger/Sandnes (pop. 210,874 in 2015).

Economy

The petroleum industry around Stavanger is an important part of the economy of Jæren, with the headquarters of the country's largest oil company Equinor being located in Jæren, as well regional offices of international companies like

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November ...

Eni Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...

, Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP,

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling comp ...

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest list of oilfield service companies, oil field service company. It has o ...

Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company, organized in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, is one of the world's largest oil field services companies. The company provides products and services for oil well drilling, formation evaluation, completion, productio ...

, and several others. Jæren is also one of the most important

agricultural 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 peopl ...

areas of Norway, with a long crop period and varied and well-developed livestock production. Industry here is also strongly connected to the farming industry, with one of the largest producers of agricultural machines in the world, Kverneland Group, located in

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

and Klepp.

Name

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 ...

form of the name was . The name is identical with the word which means "edge" or "brim". Several farms in Norway (around 30) have the same name. The name refers to the 60 km long coastline stretching from

Brusand Brusand is a village in Hå municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The small village is located on a small isthmus of land between the lake Bjåvatnet and the North Sea. The village sits along the Sørlandet Line (traditionally called the Jær ...

in the south to

Tungenes A number of steamships operated by Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab have carried the name ''Tungenes''. * , shelled and sunk 24 January 1945 * , ex ''Grimsnes'', in service 1947–61 * , built as ''Rogaland'', carried name ''Tungenes'' 1964–65, ...

in the north.

Location

Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in

. It comprises the coastline from the Stavanger Peninsula near the mouth of the great Boknafjorden all the way, south nearly to

Egersund Egersund is a town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger. The town is situated along a strait which separates the mainland from t ...

. Unlike most of the Norwegian coastline, there are very few offshore islands and few

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, Icela ...

s cutting into the shoreline. Jærens rev (Jæren's reef) is a partly stony sandbar which extends almost 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to the west in front of the Revtangen headland in Klepp municipality, the westernmost point of Jæren.Jæren geographical region, Norway
''"Unlike most of the Norwegian coast, the plain is not protected by islands; instead, a dangerous reef, Jærens Rev, lies about 3 miles (5 km) offshore."'' ''www.britannica.com'', accessed 17 January 2021

Municipalities

The geographical region of Jæren has eight municipalities:

Alternate descriptions

The geographical region of Jæren constitutes the above-mentioned municipalities, but the description of Jæren varies. Legally speaking, the

Jæren District Court Jæren District Court ( no, Jæren tingrett) was a district court in Rogaland county, Norway. The court was based at the ''Sandnes Courthouse'' located on Olav V's plass in the town of Sandnes. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction ...

constitutes only the municipalities of Sandnes, Gjesdal, Forsand, Klepp,

, and

. Some areas not traditionally in the area included in the district, and other areas are part of the

Stavanger District Court Stavanger District Court ( no, Stavanger tingrett) was a district court in Rogaland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Stavanger. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the central part of the county which includ ...

. Religiously speaking, the Jæren deanery constitutes the churches in the municipalities of Hå, Klepp, Time, and Gjesdal. Geographically speaking, the municipality of Gjesdal lies in the transition between Jæren and

districts, but it is traditionally considered to be part of Jæren. Confusion over the extent of the district is added by the fact that in everyday language, the name ''Jæren'' for most people does not include the towns of Stavanger and Sandnes but only the more rural area to the south.

Notable residents

* Erik Thorvaldsson (ca.950–ca.1000) better known as Erik the Red * Arne Garborg (1851–1924) Author and Poet *

Alfie Haaland Alfie Haaland (born Alf-Inge Rasdal Håland; 23 November 1972) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or midfielder. He is the father of current Manchester City player Erling Haaland. Haaland played in the ...

(1972-) Footballer * Filip Ingebrigtsen (1993-) Distance Runner * Jakob Ingebrigtsen (2000-) Distance Runner * Erling Braut Haaland (2000-) Footballer

Gallery

Knudaheio.jpg, Further inwards, the lowland meets the rocky areas. The sculpture is of the poet Arne Garborg House at Jæren in Norway Garborgheimen.JPG, The childhood home of poet Arne Garborg is a typical traditional house in Jæren

References

External links

Nordsjøvegen 2003 (Explore Fjord Norway)

Reisemål Jæren (only Norwegian)

Store Norske Leksikon (only Norwegian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeren Districts of Rogaland