Vestland is a

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 ...

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 ...

established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in

Western Norway Western Norway ( nb, Vestlandet, Vest-Norge; nn, Vest-Noreg) is the region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrativ ...

and it is centred around the city of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway's second largest city. 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 county is the city of

, where the executive and political leadership is based, but the County Governor is based in

Hermansverk Hermansverk is the administrative centre of Sogndal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village serves as the seat of the County Governor of Vestland county. Prior to 2020, the village served as the administrative centre of both the mun ...

. The county is one of two counties in Norway that have

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

as their official written language form (the others are neutral as to which form people use). Vestland was created in 2020 when the former counties of

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 ...

and

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 ...

(with the exception of

Hornindal Hornindal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It existed from 1867 until 1965 and then again from 1977 until 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative centre of the munici ...

municipality, which became part of

Volda Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and Gro ...

municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county) were merged.

History

Vestland county is a newly created county, but it has been inhabited for centuries. The area was made up of many

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...

s under the

Gulating Gulating ( non, Gulaþing) was one of the first Norwegian legislative assemblies, or '' things,'' and also the name of a present-day law court of western Norway. The practice of periodic regional assemblies predates recorded history, and was fi ...

during 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 northern part was the known as ''Firdafylke'' (now the Fjordane region; Nordfjord-Sunnfjord), the central are was known as ''Sygnafylke'' (now the

Sogn 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 ...

region), and the southern part was known as ''Hordafylke''. In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into four ''len''. The

Bergenhus len Bergenhus len was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Norway that existed from 1503 to 1662, with the Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen as its administrative center Norwegian administrative division. The ''len'' was changed to an ''amt'' (distr ...

was headquartered in

and encompassed much of western and northern Norway including ''Firdafylke'', ''Sygnafylke'', ''Hordafylke'', and ''Sunnmørafylke'' (in the present day

county). The new Bergenhus len was administered from the

Bergenhus Fortress Bergenhus fortress ( no, Bergenhus festning) is a fortress located in Bergen, Norway. Located at the entrance of Bergen harbour, the castle is one of the oldest and best preserved stone fortifications in Norway. History The fortress contains ...

in the city of

. In 1662, the ''lens'' were replaced by amts. On 19 February 1662, a royal decree changed the name to ''Bergenhus amt''. The new ''Bergenhus amt'' originally consisted of the present-day areas of Vestland and the

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

region of

, plus the far northern

Nordlandene amt Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trønde ...

was subordinate to Bergenhus amt. The

region was transferred to

Romsdalen amt Romsdalen is a valley in the western part of Norway. The long valley runs through Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county. It is the valley of the Rauma river, from Old Norse word ''Raumsdalr'' w ...

in 1689 and the Nordlandene amt was separated around that time as well. In 1763, the ''amt'' was divided into northern and southern parts: ''Nordre Bergenhus amt'' and ''Søndre Bergenhus amt''. When the amt was split, the present day municipality of

Gulen is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik. Other villages in Gulen include Brekke, Byrknes, ...

was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt. In 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part. On 1 January 1919, ''Nordre Bergenhus amt'' was renamed ''Sogn og Fjordane fylke'' and ''Søndre Bergenhus amt'' was renamed ''Hordaland fylke'' during a period of time when many location names in Norway were changed. The city of

was removed from the ''Bergenhus amt'' in 1831 and it was classified as a city-county ''(byamt)'' from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915, the municipality of Årstad was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring municipalities of Arna,

Fana 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 ...

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was m ...

and

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on t ...

were annexed into the city of Bergen. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county once again. On 1 January 2020, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties were merged back together once again, forming Vestland county.

Geography

Vestland is located on the western coast of Norway. It is split up by several long, deep

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 ...

s including the Nordfjorden,

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

, and

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 ...

, some of

's most notable

s and great tourist attractions. About half of the

Hardangervidda National Park Hardangervidda National Park ( en, Hardanger Plateau National Park, no, Hardangervidda nasjonalpark), at , is Norway's largest national park. It spans from Numedal and Uvdal in the east and Røvelseggi and Ullensvang in the west across the Harda ...

is in the county. It also includes the

Jostedal Jostedal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It was located in the Jostedalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of ...

Folgefonna Folgefonna is a collective term for three plateau glaciers in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. They are located on the Folgefonna peninsula in the municipalities of Ullensvang, Kvinnherad, and Etne. The three glaciers are: * Nordr ...

, and

Hardangerjøkulen Hardangerjøkulen ( en, Hardanger Glacier) is the sixth largest glacier in mainland Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Eidfjord and Ulvik in Vestland county. It is located about northeast of the village of Eidfjord (village), Eidfjo ...

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 ...

s. The county also includes many well-known

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s, such as Vøringsfossen and Stykkjedalsfossen.

Ramnefjellsfossen Ramnefjellsfossen (also known as: Utigardsfossen or Utigordsfossen) is unofficially listed as the third-highest waterfall in the world in several publications. On the other hand, The World Waterfall Database, a waterfall enthusiast website, which ...

(previously called Utigardfossen) is the tallest in Norway and third tallest in the world and

Vettisfossen Vettisfossen is one of Norway's tallest waterfalls, and the 284th tallest in the world. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountain range inside the Utladalen Landscape Protection Area in Årdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The waterfall ...

is one of Norway's highest waterfalls with a vertical drop of . Both are located in the Jotunheim mountains. Outside of the

metropolitan area, the county is mostly a rural area with a scattered population. Cruise ships visit Vestland all summer because of the unique vistas of high mountains and deep blue fjords. The famous

Nærøyfjord The Nærøyfjord (or ''Nærøyfjorden'', ) is a fjord in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The narrow fjord is a branch of the large Sognefjord, and it is featured on the "Norway in a Nutshell" daytrips for tourists. The long fjo ...

is located in the south of the county. This is a UNESCO listed fjord area. There are several archipelagos, including

Øygarden Øygarden is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is an island municipality located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Midhordland, stretching along the west coast of the cou ...

Austevoll Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

Bulandet Bulandet is an archipelago in the sea off the mainland coast of Western Norway. The island group is part of Askvoll Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It sits about west of the mainland coast of Askvoll. The islands of Værlandet and Ald ...

Bremangerlandet Bremangerlandet is an island in Bremanger Municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in Vestland county, Norway. The island is one of the largest islands in the county. The highest point on the island is the tall mountain Svartevasse ...

, and

Kinn Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of ...

. The westernmost point in Norway proper is

Holmebåen Holmebåen is a point on the tiny island of Steinsøy in an archipelago of small islands northwest of the Utvær islands in the municipality of Solund in Vestland county, Norway. It lies about west of the municipal center of Hardbakke. Holmebåe ...

in Solund municipality. The island of

Unst Unst (; sco, Unst; nrn, Ønst) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of . Unst ...

, part of

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

is around west of Holmebåen. The terrain changes quite rapidly with mostly smaller mountains on the coastline, gradually increasing to mountains reaching more than . Because of the steep rise in elevation and

s cutting through the terrain, the amount of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

is very high. Low pressure systems come in from the west and meet the mountains (a phenomenon known as

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

ing) and cause rain and snowfall.

Government

A county ''(fylke)'' is the chief local administrative area in

. The whole country is divided into 11 counties. A county is also an election area, with popular votes taking place every 4 years. In Vestland, the government of the county is the

Vestland County Municipality Vestland County Municipality ( no, Vestland fylkeskommune) is the democratically elected regional governing administration of Vestland county in Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the overseeing the county's u ...

. It includes 65 members who are elected to form a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

''(Fylkesting)''. Heading the ''Fylkesting'' is the county mayor ''(fylkesordførar)''. Since 2020, the

has been led by Jon Askeland, the county mayor. The county also has a County Governor ''(fylkesmann)'' who is the representative of the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and

Government of Norway The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power i ...

Lars Sponheim Lars Sponheim (born 23 May 1957) is a Norwegian politician. He was leader of the Liberal Party from 1996 to 2010. He was a member of the Storting from 1993 to 2009, and a government minister from 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2005. He served as Co ...

is the current County Governor of Vestland and this office is based in

. The municipalities in Vestland are divided among several district courts ''(tingrett)'':

Nordhordland District Court Nordhordland District Court ( no, Nordhordland tingrett) was a district court in Norway serving the Nordhordland and Midhordland (except for the city of Bergen) in Hordaland county, as well as Gulen Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county. The c ...

Sunnhordland District Court Sunnhordland District Court ( no, Sunnhordland tingrett) was a district court in Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Leirvik in Stord Municipality. The court existed from 1591 until 2021. It had jurisdiction over Sunnhord ...

Bergen District Court Bergen District Court ( no, Bergen tingrett) was a district court in Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Bergen at the Bergen Courthouse at Tårnplads 2 in Bergen. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the ...

Hardanger District Court Hardanger District Court ( no, Hardanger tingrett) was a district court in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the village of Lofthus in Ullensvang Municipality, but it also has courts in Norheimsund and Odd ...

, and

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 ...

. All of these courts are subordinate to 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 ...

district based in Bergen.

Media gallery

File:Myklebustdalen-sanddal-fjordane.jpg, Myklebustdalen valley east 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 ...

File:Stadt Hoddevik.jpg, The village of Hoddevik on the Stad peninsula in

Selje Selje (municipality) was a municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje was the administrative center this municipality. On 1 January 2020 the municipalit ...

File:Laerdalsoyri03.jpg, Some old houses in

Lærdalsøyri Lærdalsøyri is the administrative centre of Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Lærdalselvi river where it empties into the Lærdalsfjorden, a branch off of the main Sognefjorden. The village is lo ...

Lærdal Lærdal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Lærdalsøyri. The old Filefjell Kong ...

File:Norway Aurland Laerdal.jpg, View from

Aurland Aurland () is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Aurlandsvangen. Other villages include Bakka, ...

FinseInWinter.jpg, Finse is the highest point of the Norwegian Railway System, located at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Municipalities

Vestland County has a total of 43 municipalities: List of Norwegian municipality numbers

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Counties of Norway 2020 establishments in Norway States and territories established in 2020

History

Geography

Government

Media gallery

Municipalities

See also

References