Sokndal is the southernmost

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 ...

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 portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Dalane Dalane is a traditional district in the southwestern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund, and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway. It sits to the southeast of the very flat J� ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hauge. Other villages in Sokndal include Li, Rekefjord, Sogndalsstranda, and Åna-Sira. Sogndalsstranda is a picturesque, old fishing village, which may have inspired the municipality in becoming Norway's first member of

Cittaslow Cittaslow is an organisation founded in Italy and inspired by the slow food movement. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life a ...

. The Jøssingfjorden, known for the

Altmark Incident The ''Altmark'' incident ( Norwegian: ''Altmark''-affæren; German: ''Altmark-Zwischenfall'') was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker ''Altmark'', which happened on 16–17 February 1940. ...

, is also located in Sokndal. The municipality is the 267th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sokndal is the 219th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,281. The municipality's

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 ...

is and its population has increased by 0.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

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 o ...

of ''Soggendal'' (later ''Sokndal'') was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1845, the small lading place of

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages ...

(population: 348) was separated from Sokndal as a municipality of its own. This left Sokndal with 2,819 residents. On 12 December 1868, a small part of Sokndal (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Eigersund municipality. On 1 July 1944, the small lading place of Sogndal (population: 311) was reincorporated into Sokndal. In 1947, a small area in Sokndal (population: 7) was transferred to 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 settlemen ...

form of the name was ''Sóknardalr''. The first element is the genitive case of the river name ''Sókn'' (now Sokno) and the last element is ''dalr'' which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

" or "dale". The river name is derived from the

verb ''sœkja'' which means "seek" and so the meaning is ''"the river which seeks (finds/forces) its way"''. Before 1918, the name was written "Sogndal" or "Soggendahl".

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 8 July 1988. The arms show three black

pickaxe A pickaxe, pick-axe, or pick is a generally T-shaped hand tool used for prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly fiberglass. A stand ...

s on a yellow background. These were chosen to symbolize the importance of

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

in the municipality. It was designed by Johan Digernes of Haugesund.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within the municipality of Sokndal. It is part of the

Dalane 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 ...

( deanery) 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 ...

Geography

The municipality is the southernmost in Rogaland county. The

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

lies to the south and west, the river Sira and the Åna fjord lie to the southeast (separating it from

Flekkefjord is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Flekkefjord. The villages of Sira, Gyland, Rasvåg, Kirkehavn, and Åna-Sira are ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county), the municipality of Lund lies to the east and north, and the municipality of Eigersund lies to the northwest. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet and

Eiavatnet Eiavatnet is a lake in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake is located on the border of the municipalities of Eigersund and Sokndal, about east of the town of Egersund. The lake is regulated at an elevation of so it can be used as a reservoir fo ...

both lie on the northern border of the municipality. The coastline of Sokndal is fairly smooth, although there are two larger fjords which cut into the municipality: the Rekefjorden and Jøssingfjorden. The

Lille Presteskjær Lighthouse Lille Presteskjær Lighthouse ( no, Lille Presteskjær fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in Rekefjord in the municipality of Sokndal in Rogaland, Norway. The lighthouse is owned by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. It was established in 1895, and ...

marks the entrance to the Rekefjorden. The southeastern part of the municipality is very rocky and rugged. It is the site of the large Tellnes mine, a large producer of

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

Climate

Economy

At Tellnes, just east of Hauge i Dalane, there is an

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

mine run by Titania AS, supplying 10% of the world production of ilmenite (a type of

). It's also the world's largest

opencast Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a Borrow pit, b ...

ilmenite mine.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sokndal, are responsible for primary education (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 during the refere ...

and other social services,

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 ...

, 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 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 Sør-Rogaland District Court ( no, Sør-Rogaland tingrett) is a district court located in Rogaland and Agder counties in Norway. This court is based at three different courthouses which are located in Stavanger, Sandnes, and Egersund. The court s ...

and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Sokndal is made up of 21 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 featur ...

breakdown is as follows:

Notable people

* Carl Adolph Dahl (1769 at Aave in Rekefjord – 1819) a Norwegian jurist and politician *

Hans Reidar Holtermann Hans Reidar Holtermann (born 20 October 1895 in Sokndal, died 25 November 1966 in Bærum) was a Norway, Norwegian military officer. Holtermann is best known as the commander of Hegra Fortress during the Battle of Hegra Fortress in the Norwegian Ca ...

(1895 in Sokndal - 1966) a military officer, commanded of

Hegra Fortress Hegra Fortress ( no, Hegra festning) is a small mountain Fortification, fortress in the village of Hegra in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, Norway. Originally known as ''Ingstadkleiven Fort'' (also ''Ingstadkleiva Fort''), it w ...

in WWII * Rolf Johan Lenschow (1928 in Hauge i Dalane – 2014) a Norwegian civil engineer and professor in concrete construction * Frank Tønnesen (born 1972 in Sokndal) stage name '' Tønes'', a Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist * Vibeke Stene (born 1978 in Sokndal) a Norwegian gothic metal soprano and actress IMDb Database
retrieved 01 April 2021 *

Siri Seglem Siri Seglem (born 30 March 1983) is a Norwegian handball player. She is currently team leader for EH Aalborg in the Damehåndboldligaen The Danish Women's Handball League ( da, Damehåndboldligaen) is the top professional league for Danish wome ...

(born 1983 in Sokndal) a handball player with 23 caps with Norway women

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Sokndal

cittaslow.no
*''Google map satellite views:'' *
Hauge i Dalane
also clearly visible is the large rock

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

on both sites of the ''Rekefjord''. *
The Titania open pit mine (top right) and the ''Jøssingfjord'' (bottom left)
{{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Municipalities of Rogaland 1838 establishments in Norway Cittaslow