Jæren is a traditional district 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 other districts in Rogaland are

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 ...

Ryfylke Ryfylke is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the northeastern part of Rogaland county, Norway. The district, encompassing about 60% of the county's area is located northeast of Stavanger and east of Haugesund. It includes the mainla ...

, and

Haugalandet Haugaland or Haugalandet is a traditional district situated on the western coast of Norway. Haugaland is one of the 15 traditional districts located within the Vestlandet region. Geographically, Haugaland is a peninsula between Bømlafjorden in ...

. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

. At about , Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in

, stretching from the municipality of

Randaberg Randaberg is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren, at the northern end of the Stavanger Peninsula. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Randaberg. Randaberg ...

in the north to

Hå Hå is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the v ...

in the south. It includes the whole

Stavanger Peninsula Stavanger Peninsula () is a peninsula in Rogaland County, Norway. The peninsula is named for the city of Stavanger, located on its northeastern shore and it includes the most populous parts of the Greater Stavanger urban area. The peninsula ex ...

and the mainland area at its base. The coast is flat compared to the rest of the mountainous Norwegian coast, and it has sandy beaches along most of the coastline. The largest urban area in Jæren is the adjoining cities of

Stavanger/Sandnes Stavanger/Sandnes is the third largest urban area in Norway. It consists of the densely built-up areas in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Sola, and Randaberg, most of which are located on the Stavanger Peninsula, its surrounding islan ...

(pop. 210,874 in 2015).

Economy

The petroleum industry around Stavanger is an important part of the economy of Jæren, with the headquarters of the country's largest oil company

Equinor Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renew ...

being located in Jæren, as well regional offices of international companies like

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in t ...

, BP,

Schlumberger Schlumberger (), doing business as SLB, is a global multinational oilfield services company. Founded in France in 1926, the company is now incorporated as Schlumberger NV in Willemstad, Curaçao, with principal executive offices in Houston ...

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...

Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company is an American global energy technology company co-headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK. As one of the world's largest oil field services, industrial and energy technology companies, it provides products and serv ...

, and several others. Jæren is also one of the most important

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

areas of Norway, with a long crop period and varied and well-developed livestock production. Industry here is also strongly connected to the farming industry, with one of the largest producers of agricultural machines in the world,

Kverneland Group Kverneland Group is an international company developing, producing and distributing agricultural implements, electronics and digital services to the farming community.Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

and

Klepp Klepp 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 Kleppe. O ...

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was . The name is identical with the word which means "edge" or "brim". Several farms in Norway (around 30) have the same name. The name refers to the 60 km long coastline stretching from

Brusand Brusand is a village in Hå municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The small village is located on a small isthmus of land between the lake Bjåvatnet and the North Sea. The village sits along the Sørlandet Line (traditionally called the Jær ...

in the south to

Tungenes ''Pickhuben'' was a Cargo ship, cargo steamship that was built in 1923 by Union Giesserei, Königsberg for German owners. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at Lübeck, Germany, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed ' ...

in the north.

Location

Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in Norway. It comprises the coastline from the

near the mouth of the great

Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden () is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared between the municip ...

all the way, south nearly to

Egersund Egersund is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger (city), Stavanger. The town is situat ...

. Unlike most of the Norwegian coastline, there are very few offshore islands and few

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

s cutting into the shoreline.

Jærens rev Jærens rev (Jæren's reef) is the westernmost sandbank on the coast of Jæren, located approximately off Reve in Klepp municipality, between Orrestranda and Borestranda. Its location has been used to define the limits of the Norwegian fishery z ...

(Jæren's reef) is a partly stony sandbar which extends almost 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to the west in front of the Revtangen headland in Klepp municipality, the westernmost point of Jæren.Jæren geographical region, Norway
''"Unlike most of the Norwegian coast, the plain is not protected by islands; instead, a dangerous reef, Jærens Rev, lies about 3 miles (5 km) offshore."'' ''www.britannica.com'', accessed 17 January 2021

Municipalities

The geographical region of Jæren has eight municipalities:

Alternate descriptions

The geographical region of Jæren constitutes the above-mentioned municipalities, but the description of Jæren varies. Legally speaking, the

Jæren District Court Jæren District Court () was a district court in Rogaland county, Norway. The court was based at the ''Sandnes Courthouse'' located on Olav V's plass in the town of Sandnes. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the west central ...

constitutes only the municipalities of

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 ...

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 ...

Forsand Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the m ...

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, and

. Some areas not traditionally in the area included in the district, and other areas are part of the

Stavanger District Court Stavanger District Court () was a district court in Rogaland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Stavanger. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the central part of the county which included the municipalities of ...

. Religiously speaking, the Jæren deanery constitutes the churches in the municipalities of Hå, Klepp, Time, and Gjesdal. Geographically speaking, the municipality of Gjesdal lies in the transition between Jæren and

districts, but it is traditionally considered to be part of Jæren. Confusion over the extent of the district is added by the fact that in everyday language, the name ''Jæren'' for most people does not include the towns of Stavanger and Sandnes but only the more rural area to the south.

Notable residents

* Erik Thorvaldsson (ca.950–ca.1000) better known as Erik the Red *

Arne Garborg Arne Garborg (born Aadne Eivindsson Garborg) (25 January 1851 – 14 January 1924) was a Norwegian writer. Garborg championed the use of Landsmål (now known as Nynorsk, or New Norwegian), as a literary language; he translated the Odyssey into i ...

(1851–1924) Author and Poet *

Alfie Haaland Alfie Haaland (born Alf-Inge Rasdal Håland; 23 November 1972) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or midfielder. Haaland played in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, and Manchester City ...

(1972-) Footballer *

Filip Ingebrigtsen Filip Mangen Ingebrigtsen (born 20 April 1993) is a Norwegian middle-distance runner who represents Sandnes Idrettslag. In 2016, Ingebrigtsen became European Champion at 1500 meters during the European Championships in Amsterdam, and took bronze ...

(1993-) Distance Runner *

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track Mile run, mile, 2000 ...

(2000-) Distance Runner * Erling Braut Haaland (2000-) Footballer

Gallery

Knudaheio.jpg, Further inwards, the lowland meets the rocky areas. The sculpture is of the poet

House at Jæren in Norway Garborgheimen.JPG, The childhood home of poet Arne Garborg is a typical traditional house in Jæren

References

External links

Nordsjøvegen 2003 (Explore Fjord Norway)

Reisemål Jæren (only Norwegian)

Store Norske Leksikon (only Norwegian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeren Districts of Rogaland