Høyanger is the administrative centre of

Høyanger Municipality Høyanger () is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Høyanger. Other villages in Høyanger municipality include Austreim, Bjordal, Kyrkjebø ...

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 the ...

. The industrial village is located in a steep, narrow valley at the head of the Høyangsfjorden, a branch that flows north off the main

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 ...

. The isolated village is connected to the rest of the country by the

Norwegian County Road 55 County Road 55 ( no, Fylkesvei 55) is a highway which runs between the municipalities of Lom and Høyanger in Norway. The section across Sognefjellet, known as Sognefjellsvegen, is designated a National Tourist Route. Also a short section at ...

which enters the village through tunnels which go through the steep mountains on the east and the west sides of the village. The main church for the village is Høyanger Church, which was built in 1960. The village has a population (2019) of 2,051 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of .

History

In 1917, industrial leaders including Sigurd Kloumann and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s Christian Morgenstierne and Arne Eide made plans for a new industrial city at Høyanger. The village was only accessible by boat at that time, and it was located along the largest fjord in Norway, so this site was perfect for transportation and shipping. The village was also chosen due to the local mountains which would provide ample hydroelectricity to power the new industries, the main product of which was

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. There are several industries in Høyanger including the Høyanger metal plant (owned by

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

), Norsk Aluminium had a plant there,

Aker Kværner Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

runs the maintenance for Norsk Hydro's plant, Bilfelgfabrikken Fundamus builds wheels for

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

cars, and

Nyrstar Nyrstar is a global multi-metals business, with a market leading position in zinc and lead and growing positions in other base and precious metals, such as copper, gold and silver. Nyrstar has mining and smelting operations located in Europe, North ...

which recycles

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

dust from the steel industry nearby.

Population

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyanger (village) Villages in Vestland Høyanger