Leirvik

Coordinates: 59°46′47″N 5°30′02″E / 59.7798°N 5.5005°E / 59.7798; 5.5005
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the town in Norway. For the town in the Faroe Islands, see Leirvík. For other uses, see Leirvik (disambiguation).

Leirvik
Stord
Stord Municipality
Established as 
By (town)1997
Area
[1]
 • Total9.8 km2 (3.8 sq mi)
Elevation
[2]
2 m (7 ft)
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • Total14,126
 • Density1,441/km2 (3,730/sq mi)
DemonymStordabu
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Post Code
5417 Stord

Leirvik is a

Hardangerfjorden. The town gained "town status" in 1997. The town includes the Eldøyane peninsula where the large Kværner Stord industrial area is located.[3]

View of the harbor area of Leirvik

Leirvik is the regional centre of the

traditional district of Sunnhordland, and has many public services and offices such as the Sunnhordland District court and the Sunnhordland Museum, as well as many shops and restaurants. Stord Church and several schools such as Stord Upper Secondary School and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences are all located in the town.[3]

The 9.8-square-kilometre (2,400-acre) town has a population (2019) of 14,126 and a population density of 1,441 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,730/sq mi).[1] The entire municipality has about 18,700 residents in it (2019), so Leirvik has about 75% of the total population of the municipality. Leirvik is also the largest urban area that is located in a municipality where Nynorsk is the preferred language form.

Transportation

The town lies along the

Stord Airport is located approximately 12 kilometers west of Leirvik center close to the village of Sagvåg
. From the main bus terminal of Leirvik, there are local busses, as well as regional express busses towards Bergen to the north and Stavanger to the south.

Media

The newspaper Sunnhordland is published in Leirvik,[4] as well as the online newspaper Stord24. NRK also has a local office in Leirvik.

Name

Confusingly, when the municipality of

Norwegian government required a populated place to have at least 5,000 residents in order to be called a town. Leirvik alone did not have enough residents unless the whole surrounding areas were also included, so the name "Stord" would represent the whole area. Even though this is the official name, the public acceptance of this has been minimal and controversial, and the name of the urban community remains "Leirvik".[5][6]

The name Leirvik (Leirvík) translates into "clay bay". The word "leire" meaning "

colloquially
refer to Leirvik by the name "Vikjo", meaning "the bay" in local dialect, rather than "Leirvik".

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2019). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality". Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Leirvik, Stord (Vestland)". yr.no. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. ^
    Store norske leksikon. "Leirvik – tettsted i Stord" (in Norwegian). Archived
    from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Mediebedriftene: Sunnhordland". Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Heiter byen Stord eller Leirvik?". Sunnhordland (in Norwegian). 31 January 2007. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Skal Stord skifta namn no?". Sunnhordland (in Norwegian). 31 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
  7. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 144. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
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