Eigersund 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 ...

in Rogaland county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. It is in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Egersund. The town was known for its pottery factory (closed in 1979) and it is among Norway's biggest fishing ports. The villages of

Helleland Helleland is a village and parish in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the river Hedlandsåna and the European route E39 highway, about northeast of the town of Egersund. The Sørlandet Line ru ...

, Hellvik, and Hestnes are also in Eigersund. The island of Eigerøya lies just off shore from Egersund. The island has several well-known businesses and attractions including the Eigerøy war memorial from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The municipality is the 228th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eigersund is the 82nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 14,860. 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 RosenberPopu ...

is and its population has increased by 2.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The rural

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 ...

surrounding the town of Egersund was established as the municipality of ''Egersund landdisstrikt'' (Egersund rural district) on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1839, the northwestern district of

Augne Augne (; oc, Ònha) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central-western France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Vienne department The following is a list of the 195 communes of the Haute-Vienne dep ...

(population: 825) was separated to form its own municipality. On 12 December 1868, a small area of Eigersund municipality (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Sokndal. In 1947, an area of Eigersund immediately surrounding the town of Egersund (population: 515) was transferred to the town of Egersund and another area in Sokndal (population: 7) was transferred to Eigersund. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers in 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 Munici ...

. On 1 January 1965, the town of Egersund (population: 3,787) was merged with the surrounding municipalities of Eigersund (population: 4,664),

(population: 851), and the Gyadalen and Grøsfjel areas of Heskestad (population: 114). The new municipality was also called Eigersund. On 1 January 1967, the Tjørn farm (population: 10) was transferred from Eigersund to Sokndal.

Name

The

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

form of the name was ''Eikundarsund''. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can a ...

of the name of the island of ''Eikund'' (now Eigerøya) and the last element is ''sund'' which means "

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...

" or "

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

". The first element in the name of the island is ''eik'' which means " oak" and the last element is the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

''-und'' which means "plentiful of" (i.e. "the island covered with oak trees"). ;"Egersund" vs. "Eigersund" The form of the name spelled without the diphthong i(''Egersund'') is the

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schl ...

form of the name which is still preserved in the name of the town Egersund, but the municipality name is spelled using the Norwegian language form.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted on 20 October 1972. The arms show a gold/yellow oak leaf on a green background. The arms are partly a canting since the name is supposedly derived from ''Eikundarsund'' and ''eik'' means oak. Oaks are also very common in the municipality.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes () within the municipality of Eigersund. It is part of the Dalane prosti (

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 reside ...

) 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 Lise � ...

History

The place is mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's writings. Later, Christian IV set up a battery there.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Eigersund, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, 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 during the refe ...

and other social services, zoning,

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 ...

, 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 o ...

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 counc ...

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 ...

. The municipality falls under the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestland and Rogaland plus Sirdal Muni ...

Municipal council

The

() of Eigersund is made up of 31 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 featu ...

breakdown is as follows:

Geography

Eigersund extends from 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 ...

coast to the border of Agder county. It borders the municipalities of Hå and Bjerkreim to the north and Sokndal to the south. The municipality is centered on the town of Egersund, and includes the island of Eigerøya. The landscape includes many rivers and lakes, as well as woods and several barren rocky and heather-clad

moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet, Eiavatnet, Nodlandsvatnet, and

Teksevatnet Teksevatnet is a lake located on the border of the municipalities of Eigersund and Lund in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake lies just north of the European route E39 highway about northeast of the town of Egersund Egersund is a town in Eig ...

lie in the municipality.

Eigerøya

Eigerøya is an island off the coast of Egersund. The island is connected to the mainland over Eigerøy bridge, which was completed in 1951. The island's coastline is characterized by a number of small bays, as well as Lundarviga. Eigerøya is divided almost in two of the large bay of Lundarviga. The island is surrounded by a number of small islets.

Eigerøy Lighthouse Eigerøy Lighthouse ( no, Eigerøy fyr) is a coastal lighthouse located at the small island of Midbrødøya which is located immediately west of the island of Eigerøya in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was established in ...

and Vibberodden Lighthouse are both located along the shores of Eigerøya.

Climate

Transportation

European route E39 runs through the municipality, passing the village of

. The Sørlandet Line runs through the municipality, stopping at

Egersund Station Egersund Station ( no, Egersund stasjon) is a railway station located in the town of Egersund in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The station is located on the Sørlandet Line, about south of the Stavanger (city), city of Stav ...

and Hellvik Station.

Notable people

* Michael Birkeland (1830 in Eigersund – 1896) an historian, civil servant and politician *

Peter C. Assersen Peter Christian Assersen (January 5, 1839 – December 6, 1906) was a civil engineer and Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Background Assersen was born January 5, 1839, the youngest of twelve children, on the Midbrød farm in Egersund parish ...

(1839 in Egersund – 1906) civil engineer and Rear Admiral in US Navy * Bernt B. Lomeland (1836 in Helleland – 1900) a school teacher and lay minister * Elisabeth Fedde (1850-1921) a Lutheran Deaconess, lived in Egersund from 1895 * Anna Bugge (1862 in Egersund – 1928) a Norwegian & Swedish feminist, lawyer, diplomat and politician * Jacob Thorkelson (1876 in Egersund – 1945) US Congressman from Montana * Jack Nielsen (1896 in Egersund – 1981) Norwegian tennis player, six-time national champion * Paulus Svendsen (1904 in Egersund – 1989) literary historian, wrote biographies of Western philosophers * Thorbjørn Feyling (1907 in Egersund – 1985) a ceramist with Stavangerflint AS * Johnny Stenberg (born 1925 in Eigersund - 1990) politician, Mayor of Meråker, 1966-1973 * John Olav Larssen (1927 in Hellvik – 2009) an evangelical preacher and missionary * Gunnar Kvassheim (born 1953 in Eigersund) a Norwegian journalist and politician *

Bengt Sæternes Bengt Sæternes (born 1 January 1975) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward from 1991 until 2011. He began his playing career at local clubs Egersund and Eiger, whilst he had spells at Viking, Odd Grenland, ...

(born 1975 in Egersund) a former footballer with 478 club caps and 7 for

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway {{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Municipalities of Rogaland 1838 establishments in Norway