Sveio 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 t ...

. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the traditional district of

Haugalandet Haugaland or Haugalandet is a traditional district situated on the western coast of Norway. Haugaland is one of the 15 traditional districts located within the Vestlandet region. Geographically, Haugaland is a peninsula between Bømlafjorden in ...

since it is located on the Haugalandet peninsula, but it is also considered to be in the traditional district of

Sunnhordland Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Hardan ...

since it is located in southern Hordaland county. 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 village of

Sveio Sveio is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the traditional district of Haugalandet since it is located on the Haugalandet peninsula, but it is also considered to ...

. Other villages in the municipality include

Auklandshamn Auklandshamn or Økland is a village in Sveio municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located in the northern part of the traditional district of Haugaland, along the southern shore of the Bømlafjorden. Historically, the area ...

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Førd ...

, Våga, and

Valevåg Valevåg is a village in Sveio municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern end of the Sveio peninsula, along the southern shore of the Hardangerfjorden. Historically, Valevåg was the administrative centre o ...

. The municipality is the 290th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sveio is the 165th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,775. 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 10.5% over the previous 10-year period. Sveio is the site of the

Ryvarden Lighthouse Ryvarden Lighthouse ( no, Ryvarden fyr) is a coastal lighthouse on the western coast of the municipality of Sveio in Vestland county, Norway. The lighthouse was established in 1849 to mark the southern shore of the entrance to the Bømlafjorden fr ...

which marks the western entrance to the

Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord ( en, Hardanger Fjord) is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountain ...

. The lighthouse is automated and the old keepers house and building have now been converted into

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

, the ''Flókemuseum'', and a cafe. The composer

Fartein Valen Olav Fartein Valen (25 August 1887 – 14 December 1952) was a Norwegian composer, notable for his work in atonal polyphonic music. He developed a polyphony similar to Bach's counterpoint, but based on motivic working and dissonance rather ...

lived much of his life in

in northern Sveio. ''Valenheimen'', the house he lived in is open to the public and the Fartein Valen Festival is held annually in Sveio. The

Triangle Link The Triangle Link ( no, Trekantsambandet) is a fixed link with three branches that connects the islands of Stord and Bømlo to each other and to the mainland at Sveio, Norway. It consists of the underwater Bømlafjord Tunnel from Sveio to the i ...

bridge-tunnel network is based in northern Sveio, connecting the islands to the north to the mainland. The southern entrance to the Bømlafjord Tunnel is located along 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, just south of the village of

General information

The municipality of Sveio was established in 1865 when the part of

Finnås Finnås is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality, which existed from 1838 until 1916, was located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Originally, the municipality encompassed all of the island of ...

municipality located south of the

Bømlafjorden Bømlafjorden ( en, Bømla Fjord) is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is the outer-most part of the Hardangerfjord, running between the island of Bømlo (in Bømlo Municipality) and the mainland ( Sveio Municipality). The Bømlafjord ...

(population: 2,227) and the

Vikebygd Vikebygd is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland 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 port ...

part of the municipality of

Fjelberg Fjelberg is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1965 when it was dissolved. In 1965, the municipality covered , mostly islands and a small area on the mainland. It encompassed part ...

(population: 1,062) were joined as the new municipality of ''Sveen'' (later the spelling was changed to ''Sveio''). On 1 January 1902, the

area (population: 1,092) was separated from Sveio to form its own municipality. 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, Sveio (population: 1,697) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Valestrand (population: 1,216), the western half of the municipality of

(population: 471), and a small part of the municipality of Skjold (population: 24). The part of Skjold was transferred from

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 to Hordaland county on the same date.

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 ''Sveio'' farm ( non, Sviða), since the first Sveio Church was built there in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The name is identical with the word ''sviða'' which means a "clearing made by burning". Before 1912, the name was written ''Sveen''.

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 19 February 1982. The arms show a white or silver

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

on a red background. The arms are derived from the historic arms of Jon Gauteson from Sveio, who lived around the year 1500. His family became

Norwegian nobility Aristocracy of Norway refers to modern and medieval aristocracy in Norway. Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites thatrelating to the main lines of Norway's historyare generally accepted as nominal predecessor ...

in 1591, and he was the first in his family to use this symbol as part of his arms.

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 two parishes () within the municipality of Sveio. It is part of the

Sunnhordland prosti Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Hardang ...

(

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.

Geography

The municipality is located on the mainland of Norway on the western coast of the county on the

peninsula, facing the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

to the west. The entrance to the

lies along the northern side of the municipality, and the smaller Ålfjorden lies along the eastern border of the municipality. Sveio's southern border is also the county border, bordering the town of

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

and the municipality of

Tysvær Tysvær is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Haugalandet region. The municipality is located on the Haugalandet peninsula on the northern side of the Boknafjorden, just east of the towns of Kopervik and Haugesund. Th ...

to the south, the municipality of

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 o ...

to the east (across the Ålfjorden), and the island municipalities of

Bømlo Bømlo is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo includ ...

and

Stord Stord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural ...

to the north (across the Hardangerfjorden). The lakes

Vigdarvatnet Vigdarvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Sveio in Vestland county, Norway. A small arm off the main lake juts to the south and runs along the municipal-county border between Sveio in Vestland county and the town of Haugesund in Rogaland coun ...

and

Stakkastadvatnet Stakkastadvatnet is a lake on the border of Rogaland and Vestland counties in Norway. The lake mostly lies in Rogaland along the municipal borders of Haugesund and Tysvær. A very small portion of the northern part of the lake crosses over into ...

lie in the southern part of the municipality, crossing into the neighboring municipalities. The

is located on a small point, along the Hardangerfjorden.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sveio, 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

Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court ( no, Haugaland og Sunnhordland tingrett) is a district court located in Vestland and Rogaland counties in Norway. This court is based at two different courthouses which are located in Haugesund and Leir ...

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 Sveio is made up of 25 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 mayors of Sveio (incomplete list): *2015–present: Jorunn Skåden ( Ap) *2011-2015: Ruth Grethe Eriksen ( FrP) *2003-2011: Jorunn Skåden (Ap) *1999-2003: Olav Haugen (

KrF The Christian Democratic Party ( nb, Kristelig Folkeparti, nn, Kristeleg Folkeparti, se, Risttalaš Álbmotbellodat, , KrF) is a Christian-democratic political party in Norway founded in 1933. The party is an observer member of the European Pe ...

) *1992-1999: Magnus Skåden (Ap) May Britt Vihovde (bilde 01)

Notable residents

Einar Økland Einar Økland (born 17 January 1940) is a Norwegian poet, playwright, essayist and children's writer. He was born in Sveio, and educated psychologist. He made his literary debut in 1963, with the poetry collection ''Ein gul dag''. He was awarded ...

(born 1940 in Sveio) a Norwegian poet, playwright, essayist and children's writer * May Britt Vihovde (born 1958 in Sveio) a politician and former Member of Parliament *

Sigbjørn Apeland Sigbjørn Apeland (born 10 May 1966 was raised in Sveio, Norway) is a musician (organ and Harmonium) and scientist, known from several recordings and for his work in the borderland between folk music, church music and improvisational music. Car ...

(born 1966) scientist and musician, plays organ and harmonium; raised in Sveio *

Bjørn Berge Bjørn Berge (born in Sveio, Norway on 23 September 1968) is a Norwegian guitarist and blues artist. Career After being named "Best Musician of the Year" by ''Dagbladet'' in 1998, In 2001, he won Spellemannprisen for his album ''Stringmachine ...

(born 1968 in Sveio) a Norwegian guitarist and blues artist *

Grutle Kjellson Kjetil Tvedte Grutle, better known as Grutle Kjellson (born 24 December 1973 in Sveio, Hordaland, Norway), is the bassist and vocalist of the Norwegian progressive black metal band Enslaved. Together with Ivar Bjørnson, they are the founding an ...

(born 1973 in Sveio) bassist and vocalist in the progressive black metal band Enslaved *

Agnes Ravatn Agnes Ravatn (born 8 February 1983, in Ølen) is a Norwegian novelist, columnist and journalist. She debuted in 2007 with the novel ''Veke 53'' ('Week 53'). Ravatn is a columnist and journalist for Nynorsk newspaper ''Dag og Tid''. A series of es ...

(born 1983)

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

; lived in Valevåg * Cecilie Pedersen (born 1990 in Førde) a Norwegian football striker

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 ...

Welcome to SveioSveio kommune website
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 1865 establishments in Norway