Vindafjord 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 ...

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 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 ...

. It is part of the traditional district of

Haugaland 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 2005, 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 has been the village of Ølensjøen (prior to that time it was the village of

Sandeid Sandeid is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the head of the Sandeidfjorden, about northwest of the village of Vikedal and about south of the village of Ølensjøen. The village has a p ...

). Other villages in the municipality include

Bjoa Bjoa is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the coast of the Bjoafjorden, just across the fjord from the island of Borgundøya. The village has a kindergarten and an elementary school, serv ...

Imslandsjøen Imslandsjøen or Imsland is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern shore of the Vindafjorden, about southeast of the village of Vikedal and about west of the village of Sand in n ...

Ølensvåg Ølensvåg or Ølsvågen is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the southwestern end of the Ølsfjorden, along the European route E134 highway, just west of the municipal centre of Ølensjø ...

, Skjold, Vats,

Vikebygd Vikebygd is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the Ålfjorden, about straight west of the village of Ølensvåg. The village was the administrative centre of the former municipality o ...

, and

Vikedal Vikedal or Vikadal is a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the Sandeidfjorden, about south of the village of Sandeid and about northwest of the village of Imslandsjøen. Vikedal Ch ...

. The municipality is centered on the Vindafjorden and

Sandeidfjorden Sandeidfjorden ( en, Sandeid Fjord) is a fjord in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The long fjord is a northern branch of main Vindafjorden. The village of Sandeid lies at the northern end of the fjord and the village of Vik ...

in the east and it lies north and east of the Skjoldafjorden in the west. The municipality is the 186th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vindafjord is the 122nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,775. 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 3.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

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 new municipality of Vindafjord was created from several areas in northern

county: *all of

municipality (population: 876) *the Liarheim og Langeland areas of Skjold municipality on the north side of the Skjoldafjorden (population: 1,262) *all of Vats municipality except for the Breidal and Stølsvik farms (population: 1,128) * all of

Imsland Imsland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included the area surrounding the inner part of the Vindafjorden in the present-day municipalitie ...

municipality located north of the Vindafjorden (population: 372) * all of

municipality except for the Hapnes and Dokskar farms (population: 978) Initially, Vindafjord had 4,616 residents. On 1 January 1969, the Sponevik farm (population: 6) was transferred from Vindafjord to the neighboring 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 ...

. Then on 1 January 1978, the Vormestrand area along the southern shore of the Vindafjorden (population: 13) was transferred to neighboring Suldal municipality. On 1 January 2006, Vindafjord merged with the neighboring municipality of Ølen (population: 3,420). Ølen had transferred from

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 ...

county to

county 2002. After the merger, the municipal centre of Vindafjord was moved from

to the village of Ølensjøen, which had been the

of Ølen.

Name

The municipality (created in 1965) is named after the Vindafjorden, 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 ...

that runs through the eastern part of the municipality. The first element is probably derived from the verb ''vinda'' which means "turn" or "twist" referring to the sharp turn of the fjord at Dragneset.

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 ...

were granted on 10 March 2006, shortly after the merger of Ølen with Vindafjord. The new arms are a mix of the old arms of the two municipalities before the merger. The swirling design is taken from the old coat-of-arms of Ølen and the colours (red and silver/white) are from the old arms of Vindafjord. The swirling design of the arms show in a symbolized way all the roads that come together in the municipality. The municipality thus is an important centre of

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. Vindafjord komm.svg, Current arms since 2006. Vindafjords_kommunevåpen_1986.svg, Arms from 1986 until 2005. Ølen komm.svg, Arms of Ølen (used from 1986 to 2005 when it merged with Vindafjord)

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 eight parishes () within the municipality of Vindafjord. It is part of the

Haugaland prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...

(

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 ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vindafjord, 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

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 Vindafjord is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, 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 is as follows:

Geography

The municipality of Vindafjord lies south of the Hardangerfjorden and north of the Skjoldafjorden and Vindafjorden. The

flows through the municipality also. The lake

Vatsvatnet Vatsvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Vindafjord in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake lies south of the European route E134 highway and north of the village of Vats. The long, narrow lake is long, and has a maximum width of . The pr ...

lies in the central part of the municipality. The municipality sits near the base of the

et peninsula, connecting the mainland to the city 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 ...

on the western end of the peninsula. The European route E134 highway runs through the municipality. Jens Hundseid

Notable people

Knud Baade Knud Baade (28 March 1808 - 24 November 1879) was a Norwegian painter, mostly of portraits and landscapes. He was particularly known for his moonlight paintings which are characterized by strong and dramatic contrasts between light and shadow. ...

(1808 in Skjold - 1879) a Norwegian painter of portraits and landscapes, particularly moonlight paintings * Jens Hundseid (1883 in Vikedal – 1965) a Norwegian politician, Prime Minister of Norway 1932 to 1933; joined Nasjonal Samling in 1940 * Thormod Næs (1930 in Skjold – 1997) a sport shooter, competed at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Per Øyvind Heradstveit Per Øyvind Heradstveit (26 May 1932 – 11 May 2004) was a Norwegian television journalist and non-fiction writer. Personal life Heradstveit was born on 26 May 1932 in Skjold in Ryfylke and grew up in Hardanger. He was a son of farmer Arne ...

(1932 in Skjold – 2004) a Norwegian TV journalist and non-fiction writer *

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 in Ølen) a Norwegian novelist, columnist and journalist

Gallery

File:Skjold kyrkje.jpg, Skjold kyrkje File:Pecon1.jpg, Building of Ekofisk wall in Vikebygd File:Vikedal gamle kirkegård.jpg, Vikedal gamle kirkegård File:E134 Skjold Vindafjord.jpg, E134 Skjold Vindafjord

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 ...

* * * {{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Municipalities of Rogaland 1965 establishments in Norway