Fjærland or Mundal is a village in

Sogndal Municipality Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

, at the end of the Fjærlandsfjorden, in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 Fjærlandfjorden is a branch going north off the

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, ), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (), is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the small village of Skjolden in the muni ...

, the longest fjord in Norway. The village area is located about northwest of the municipal center of Sogndalsfjøra, along the

Norwegian National Road 5 Norwegian National Road 5 (, ) is a national road in Norway. It runs between Florø, Kinn to Lærdal, Vestland. Starting where the E16 enters the Lærdal Tunnel, approximately five kilometers south of Lærdalsøyri, the road goes northwest ...

. The village and its surrounding area encompass rich farming country, including the nearby areas of Bøyum and Oygard. The glacier arms

Bøyabreen Bøyabreen is a glacier in the Fjærland area of Sogndal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located inside Jostedalsbreen National Park, and it is a side branch of the large Jostedalsbreen glacier. See also *List of glaciers in No ...

and Supphellebreen (a part of the

Jostedalsbreen Jostedal Glacier or is the largest glacier in continental Europe. It is in Vestland county in Western Norway. Jostedalsbreen lies in the municipalities of Luster, Sogndal, Sunnfjord, and Stryn. The highest peak in the area is Lodalskåpa a ...

glacier) and the Norwegian Glacier Museum are located nearby. Fjærland is also the Norwegian

book town A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian bookstores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists. Some book towns are members of the International Organisation of Book Towns. List of ...

, with book shops situated in old cow sheds and pigpens; there are also book shops on the ferry quay and in the Hotel Mundal. The Hotel Mundal is an old wooden building in 19th-century style still in business as a hotel. The hotel was owned by the Orheim family for over a hundred years, until August 2008, when it was sold. Fjærland Church is located in the village, serving the whole Fjærland area.

History

Fjærland was originally part of

, but in 1849 it was transferred to the newly created Balestrand Municipality. Historically, the only transportation to Fjærland had been by ferry along the Fjærlandsfjorden. In 1986, the Fjærland Tunnel was opened, by

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

, connecting Fjærland to the village of Skei in neighboring Jølster Municipality to the northwest. In 1994, the Frudal Tunnel was opened to the southeast which connected Fjærland to the village of Sogndalsfjøra in neighboring

. These tunnels are now the best access from the large district of Norway's west coast toward the capital,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. The completion of the Frudal Tunnel was the main reason why the Fjærland area left Balestrand municipality and merged into the municipality of Sogndal on 1 January 2000.

Climate

Notable residents

The paternal grandparents of

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

from 1977 to 1981 and the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 1984, were born in Mundal in Fjærland. It is common in Norway that

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

s come from the name of the original home place.

References

External links

Information FjærlandWeather forecast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjaerland Villages in Vestland Sogndal