Bjerkreim
| Bjerkreim kommune | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipality | |||
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View of the Bjerkreim landscape | |||
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 Bjerkreim within Rogaland | |||
| Coordinates: 58°39′25″N 06°08′48″E / 58.65694°N 6.14667°ECoordinates: 58°39′25″N 06°08′48″E / 58.65694°N 6.14667°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Rogaland | ||
| District | Dalane | ||
| Administrative centre | Vikeså | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2015) | Torbjørn Ognedal (Sp) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 650.56 km2 (251.18 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 577.30 km2 (222.90 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 73.26 km2 (28.29 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 170 in Norway | ||
| Population (2016) | |||
| • Total | 2,825 | ||
| • Rank | 282 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 4.9/km2 (13/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | 14.1 % | ||
| Demonym(s) | Bjerkreimsbu[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1114 | ||
| Official language form | Neutral, but the schools and churches use Nynorsk | ||
| Website |
www | ||
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Bjerkreim is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vikeså. Other villages in the municipality include Bjerkreim and Øvrebygd.
Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city, Stavanger. The two and a half thousand inhabitants in Bjerkreim have a total area of 585 square kilometres (226 sq mi) at their disposal. It includes one of the most important salmon rivers in Norway, Bjerkreimselva. The most important livelihoods are agriculture and small-scale industries.
General information
The parish of Birkrem was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal changes in Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On that date, the Nedre Maudal area of Bjerkreim (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal.[2]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bjerkreim farm (Old Norse: Bjarkarheimr), since the first Bjerkreim Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of bjørk which means "birch" and the last element is heimr which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".[3]
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 11 July 1986. The green and white arms are canting, showing a white (or silver) birch branch on a green background. This was chosen since the name of the municipality is derived from the Norwegian word for birch, bjørk.[4]
Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Bjerkreim. It is part of the Dalane deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.
| Parish (Sokn) | Church Name | Location of the Church | Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bjerkreim | Bjerkreim Church | Bjerkreim | 1835 |
| Ivesdal Chapel | Øvrebygd | 1876 |
Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Bjerkreim, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality has 2 primary schools and 2 kindergartens. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. A notable local politician is Olaf Gjedrem, mayor from 1979 to 1993 and later a member of the national parliament.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bjerkreim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to every four years. The executive committee of the council has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economical committee. The mayor of Bjerkreim leads both the council and the executive committee. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[5]
| Party Name | Name in Norwegian | Number of representatives | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | Arbeiderpartiet | 2 | |
| Progress Party | Framstegspartiet | 1 | |
| Conservative Party | Høgre | 4 | |
| Christian Democratic Party | Kristelig Folkeparti | 4 | |
| Centre Party | Senterpartiet | 5 | |
| Liberal Party | Venstre | 1 | |
| Total number of members: | 17 | ||
Geography
Bjerkreim municipality lies at the northern end of the hilly, rugged Dalane district, just south of the very flat Jæren district. There are several large lakes in Bjerkreim including Austrumdalsvatnet, Byrkjelandsvatnet, Hofreistæ, and Ørsdalsvatnet.
Weather
| Climate data for Bjerkreim | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
1.5 (34.7) |
4.5 (40.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
13.0 (55.4) |
14.2 (57.6) |
14.3 (57.7) |
11.0 (51.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
3.5 (38.3) |
0.8 (33.4) |
6.6 (43.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 180 (7.09) |
132 (5.2) |
152 (5.98) |
87 (3.43) |
106 (4.17) |
115 (4.53) |
136 (5.35) |
177 (6.97) |
240 (9.45) |
270 (10.63) |
253 (9.96) |
217 (8.54) |
2,065 (81.3) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 14.8 | 11.0 | 13.8 | 10.9 | 12.7 | 11.8 | 11.6 | 14.3 | 17.2 | 17.7 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 170.1 |
| Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[6] | |||||||||||||
Transportation
The main means of transportation to Bjerkreim is via the European route E39 highway which passes through the municipality from south to north. The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport, Stavanger airport in Sola, is approximately 40 minutes by car.
References
- ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
- ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
- ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 47–49.
- ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
- ↑ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
- ↑ "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bjerkreim. |
 |
Look up Bjerkreim in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Rogaland travel guide from Wikivoyage - The River Bjerkreim (Bjerkreimselva)
- Visit the South region of Rogaland (Reisemaal Soer Vest)
- Salmon fishing in Norway
