Vindafjord

Vindafjord kommune
Municipality

View of the municipal centre of Ølensjøen

Coat of arms
Rogaland within
Norway

Vindafjord within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°32′44″N 05°49′05″E / 59.54556°N 5.81806°E / 59.54556; 5.81806Coordinates: 59°32′44″N 05°49′05″E / 59.54556°N 5.81806°E / 59.54556; 5.81806
Country Norway
County Rogaland
District Haugaland
Administrative centre Ølensjøen
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Ole Johan Vierdal (Sp)
Area
 • Total 620.59 km2 (239.61 sq mi)
 • Land 598.89 km2 (231.23 sq mi)
 • Water 21.70 km2 (8.38 sq mi)
Area rank 179 in Norway
Population (2015)
 • Total 8,765
 • Rank 128 in Norway
 • Density 14.6/km2 (38/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) +86.5% %
Demonym(s) Vindafjording[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1160
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.vindafjord.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Vindafjord is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. Since 2005, the administrative centre of the municipality has been the village of Ølensjøen, prior to that time it was the village of Sandeid. Other villages in the municipality include Bjoa, Imslandsjøen, Ølensvåg, Skjold, Vats, Vikebygd, and Vikedal. The municipality is centered on the Vindafjorden and Sandeidfjorden in the east and it lies north and east of the Skjoldafjorden in the west.

General information

Map of Vindafjord

Vindafjord was established as a new municipality on 1 January 1965 after a major municipal merger that resulted from the work of the Schei Committee. The municipality of Sandeid and parts of the municipalities of Vats, Imsland, Skjold, and Vikedal. Initially, Vindafjord had 4,616 residents. On 1 January 1969, the Sponevik farm (population: 6) was transferred from Vindafjord to the neighboring municipality of Tysvær. Then on 1 January 1978, the Vormestrand area along the southern shore of the Vindafjorden (population: 13) was transferred to neighboring Suldal municipality.[2]

On 1 January 2006, Vindafjord merged with the neighboring municipality of Ølen (population: 3,420). Ølen had transferred from Hordaland county to Rogaland county 2002. After the merger, the municipal centre was moved from Sandeid to the village of Ølensjøen, which had been the administrative centre of Ølen.[3]

Name

The municipality (created in 1965) is named after the Vindafjorden, a fjord that runs through the eastern part of the municipality. The first element is probably derived from the verb vinda which means "turn" or "twist" referring to the sharp turn of the fjord at Dragneset.[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms were granted on 10 March 2006, shortly after the merger of Ølen with Vindafjord. The new arms are a mix of the old arms of the two municipalities before the merger. The swirling design is taken from the old coat-of-arms of Ølen and the colours (red and silver/white) are from the old arms of Vindafjord. The swirling design of the arms show in a symbolized way all the roads that come together in the municipality. The municipality thus is an important centre of trade.[4][5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has eight parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Vindafjord. It is part of the Haugaland deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Vindafjord
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
BjoaBjoa ChurchBjoa1895
ImslandImsland ChurchImslandsjøen1861
SandeidSandeid ChurchSandeid1904
SkjoldSkjold ChurchSkjold1999
VatsVats ChurchVats1855
VikebygdVikebygd ChurchVikebygd1937
VikedalVikedal ChurchVikedal1881
ØlenØlen ChurchØlensjøen1874

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vindafjord, 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 is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Vindafjord is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[6]

Vindafjord Kommunestyre 2011–2015
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet4
 Progress PartyFramstegspartiet3
 Conservative PartyHøgre5
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti3
 Centre PartySenterpartiet8
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
 Local ListsLokale lister1
Total number of members:25

Geography

The municipality of Vindafjord lies south of the Hardangerfjorden and north of the Skjoldafjorden and Vindafjorden. The Sandeidfjorden flows through the municipality also. The lake Vatsvatnet lies in the central part of the municipality. The municipality sits near the base of the Haugalandet peninsula, connecting the mainland to the city of Haugesund on the western end of the peninsula. The European route E134 highway runs through the municipality.

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. ↑ Store norske leksikon. "Ølen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  4. 1 2 Store norske leksikon. "Vindafjord" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  5. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  6. ↑ "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011.
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