Tau is a village in

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

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 on the shore of the Horgefjorden, a branch of the main Boknafjorden. Strand Church is located in the village. The village has a population (2019) of 3,212 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 lies along the

Norwegian National Road 13 National Road 13 (, ) is a national road which runs from the town of Stavanger in Rogaland county to the village of Sogndalsfjøra in Vestland county. The route is long and runs south–north through Rogaland and Vestland counties, following ...

highway, southwest of the small villages of Fiskå and Holta and northwest of the town of

Jørpeland Jørpeland is the administrative centre of Strand, Norway, Strand municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The List of towns and cities in Norway, town is located on the western coast of the mainland, along the shore of the Idsefjorden, about no ...

. The Ryfylke Tunnel connects Tau to the city of Stavanger nearly away on the other side of a wide fjord.

Name

The name might come from 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 ...

word ''taufr'' which means 'witchcraft', since there was an ancient sacrificial field here in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Economy

Comrod Communications is the largest employer in Tau, mainly manufacturing antennas for military use. Electrocompaniet is also based here. The factory ''Tau Mølle AS'' is located in Tau, producing puffed

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

. The factory is located in a white mill that was used to brew the Norwegian beer known as "Tou".

References

Villages in Rogaland Strand, Norway {{Rogaland-geo-stub