Hordaland

Coordinates: 60°15′N 06°00′E / 60.250°N 6.000°E / 60.250; 6.000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Hordaland (disambiguation).
Hordaland County
Hordaland fylke
Former County
Hardangerfjord in July 2012
Hardangerfjord in July 2012
Bergen
Government
 • BodyHordaland County Municipality
 • Governor (2010-2019)Lars Sponheim (V)
 • County mayor
   (2015-2019)		Anne Gine Hestetun (Ap)
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total15,460 km2 (5,970 sq mi)
 • Land14,551 km2 (5,618 sq mi)
 • Water909 km2 (351 sq mi)  5.9%
 • Rank#9 in Norway
Population
 (2014)
 • Total508,500
 • Rank#3 in Norway
 • Density33/km2 (85/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +7.9%
DemonymHordalending[1]
Official language
[2]
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-12[3]
Income (per capita)148,000 kr (2001)
GDP (per capita)263,000 kr (2001)
GDP national rank#2 in Norway
(7.55% of country)
Data from Statistics Norway

Hordaland (Urban East Norwegian: [ˈhɔ̂rdɑlɑn] ⓘ) was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipality, which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county, apart from Hordaland. On 1 January 2020, the county was merged with neighbouring Sogn og Fjordane county, to form the new Vestland county.

Name and symbols

Name

Hordaland (Old Norse: Hǫrðaland) is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The first element is the plural genitive case of hǫrðar, the name of an old Germanic tribe (see Charudes). The last element is land which means "land" or "region" in the Norwegian language.

Until 1919 the name of the county was

amt
". (The old Bergenhus amt was created in 1662 and was divided into Northern and Southern parts in 1763.)

See also: Rogaland and Sogn og Fjordane

Flag

The flag of Hordaland

Hordaland's flag shows two golden axes and a crown in red. The flag is a banner of the

Saint Olav, King of Norway, whose symbol is an axe.[4]

Coat of arms

The

crown above them.[5]

History

Historical population
YearPop.±%
176963,757—    
1900205,771+222.7%
1950308,164+49.8%
1960338,265+9.8%
1970369,430+9.2%
1980388,084+5.0%
1990407,427+5.0%
2000435,219+6.8%
2010477,175+9.6%
2014508,500+6.6%
Source: Statistics Norway.[6][7]
Religion in Hordaland[8][9]
religion percent
Christianity
 
 87.34%
Islam
 
 0.77%
Buddhism
 
 0.22%
Other
 
 11.67%

Hordaland county had been around for more than one thousand years. In the 7th century, the area was made up of many petty kingdoms under the Gulating and was known as Hordafylke from around the year 900. In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into four len. The Bergenhus len was headquartered in Bergen and encompassed much of western and northern Norway.[10]

In 1662, the lens were replaced by

Nordlandene amt was subordinate to Bergenhus. In the 1680s, Nordlandene and Sunnmøre were split from Bergenhus. In 1763, the amt was divided into northern and southern parts: Nordre Bergenhus amt and Søndre Bergenhus amt. When the amt was split, the present day municipality of Gulen was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt. In 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part. Søndre Bergenhus amt was renamed Hordaland fylke in 1919.[10]

The city of Bergen was classified as a city-county (byamt) from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915, the municipality of Årstad was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg and Åsane were annexed into the city of Bergen. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county.[10]

Government

Hardanger is one of Norway's most important sources of fruit, providing approximately 40% of the country's fruit production, including apples, plums, pears, cherries, and redcurrants.

A county (fylke) is the chief local administrative area in Norway. The whole country is divided into 19 counties. A county is also an election area, with popular votes taking place every 4 years. In Hordaland, the government of the county was the Hordaland County Municipality. It included 57 members elected to form a county council (Fylkesting). Heading the Fylkesting was the county mayor (fylkesordførar). The last county mayor for the Hordaland County Municipality was Anne Gine Hestetun.

The county also had a

County Governor of Hordaland
. The municipalities in Hordaland were divided among four district courts (tingrett): Nordhordland, Sunnhordland, Bergen, and Hardanger. Hordaland was also part of the Gulating Court of Appeal district based in Bergen.[10]

Most of the municipalities in Hordaland were part of the Hordaland police district. Gulen and Solund in Sogn og Fjordane county were also part of the Hordaland police district. Bømlo, Etne, Fitjar, Stord and Sveio were a part of the "Haugaland and Sunnhordland" police district, along with eight other municipalities in Rogaland county.[10]

Geography

above sea level
.

Hordaland is semi-circular in shape. It is located on the

Vøringsfossen and Stykkjedalsfossen. It also includes the Folgefonna and Hardangerjøkulen glaciers
.

More than 60% of the inhabitants live in Bergen and the surrounding area. Other urban or semi-urban centres include Leirvik, Voss and Odda.

Panorama over the island of Sotra.
Location of Oppland Municipalities
Location of Oppland Municipalities

Municipalities

  1. Askøy
  2. Austevoll
  3. Austrheim
  4. Bergen
  5. Bømlo
  6. Eidfjord
  7. Etne
  8. Fedje
  9. Fitjar
  10. Fjell
  11. Fusa
  12. Granvin
  13. Jondal
  14. Kvam
  15. Kvinnherad
  16. Lindås
  17. Masfjorden
  18. Meland
  19. Modalen
  20. Odda
  21. Os
  22. Osterøy
  23. Øygarden
  24. Radøy
  25. Samnanger
  26. Stord
  27. Sund
  28. Sveio
  29. Tysnes
  30. Ullensvang
  31. Ulvik
  32. Vaksdal
  33. Voss

Districts

Cities

Main article: list of towns and cities in Norway

Parishes

Villages

Main article:
list of villages in Hordaland

Former municipalities

Main article: list of former municipalities of Norway

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns – Sister cities

Hordaland county is

twinned with:[10]

Christmas Tree

Since 1949 Hordaland has given a Christmas tree to the Scottish Capital city of Edinburgh this is to remember the help given to Norwegians during World War II by Scots however since 2008 the tree has been sourced in Scotland but has remained a gift from the people of Hordaland.[13]

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget
    .
  4. ^ "Civic heraldry of Norway – Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  5. ^ "Hordaland fylke" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  6. ^ http://www.ssb.no/fob/kommunehefte/12/fob_12_tabeller.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ "Tabell 6 Folkemengde per 1. Januar, etter fylke og kommune. Registrert 2009. Framskrevet 2010-2030, alternativ MMMM". Archived from the original on 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  8. ^ Statistics Norway – Church of Norway.
  9. ^ Statistics Norway – Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006–2010 Archived 2011-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b c d e f no:Hordaland
  11. ^ The City and the Stril country University of Bergen Grind website.
  12. ^ "Home page of Cardiff Council – Cardiff's twin cities". Cardiff Council. 15 June 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  13. ^ "Edinburgh celebrates links with Norway". Scottish Field. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2021-09-19.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hordaland.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Hordaland.
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