Ålgård (historic: ''Aalgaard'') is the

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

Gjesdal Gjesdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgår ...

municipality in

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, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The village is located along the

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...

highway, about southeast of the city of Sandnes in the

Jæren Jæren is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the large ...

district of the county. The village includes the neighborhoods of Ålgård, Bærland, Fiskebekk, Opstad and Solås. The large lake

Edlandsvatnet Edlandsvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Gjesdal in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake lies just south of the large village of Ålgård, immediately southwest of the lake Limavatnet. The European route E39 highway runs along the northern ...

lies on the south side of the village, emptying into the river Figgjoelva which runs northwest to Sandnes. Ålgård is mostly known for the Kongeparken amusement park, an old wool mill, and a local football team ( Ålgård F.K.) playing in the

Norwegian Second Division The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

. The Old Ålgård Church (built in 1917) and the new Ålgård Church (built in 2015) are both located in the village. There is significant industries in Ålgård, primarily the wood, textile, and clothing industries.

Population

The village has a population (2019) of 9,277 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of . The village of

Figgjo Figgjo is a borough of the Sandnes (town), city of Sandnes in the west part of the large municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The borough is located in the southern part of the city. It has a population (2016) of 2,213. The borou ...

, located in neighboring

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest municipality in Norway, and together the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sand ...

municipality sits directly adjacent to Ålgård, just over the municipal border.

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, 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 year on its web site. All rele ...

considers Ålgård/Figgjo to be one large urban area straddling two municipalities. Together, Ålgård/Figgjo has 11,335 residents.

Notable residents

* Leo Moracchioli (born 1978 in Ålgård), a multi-instrumentalist

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

ian and producer based in Oltedal * Martin Nevland (born 2001 in Ålgård), is a multi-time youth and junior world champion

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

* Håvard Rugland (born 1984 in Ålgård), a Norwegian

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

, known as ''"Kickalicious"''

Media gallery

Veveriet Ålgård.jpg, A former wool mill now used as a library and a cultural center Ålgård Station.jpg, Ålgård Station, a former railway station for Ålgårdbanen Ålgård Kirke.jpg, Ålgård Church was built in 1917. The architect was Ole Stein.

References

Villages in Rogaland Gjesdal {{Rogaland-geo-stub