Hordaland

Hordaland County

*Hordaland fylke*
Hordaland County Hordaland fylke
Former County
	Hardangerfjord in July 2012
	Flag Coat of arms
	Hordaland within Norway
	Hordaland County Hordaland County
	Coordinates: 60°15′N 06°00′E
Country	Norway
County	Hordaland
District	Western Norway
Established	1763
• Preceded by	Bergenhus amt
Disestablished	1 Jan 2020
• Succeeded by	Vestland county
Administrative centre	Bergen
Government
• Body	Hordaland County Municipality
• Governor (2010-2019)	Lars Sponheim (V)
• County mayor ; (2015-2019)	Anne Gine Hestetun (Ap)
Area (upon dissolution)
• Total	15,460 km2 (5,970 sq mi)
• Land	14,551 km2 (5,618 sq mi)
• Water	909 km2 (351 sq mi) 5.9%
• Rank	#9 in Norway
Population (2014)
• Total	508,500
• Rank	#3 in Norway
• Density	33/km2 (85/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+7.9%
Demonym	Hordalending
Official language
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-12
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.

Quick Facts Country, County ...

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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 Søndre Bergenhus amt which meant "(the) southern (part of) Bergenhus amt". (The old Bergenhus amt was created in 1662 and was divided into Northern and Southern parts in 1763.)

Flag

Hordaland's flag shows two golden axes and a crown in red. The flag is a banner of the coat of arms derived from the old seal of the guild of St. Olav from Onarheim in Tysnes municipality. This seal was used by the delegates of Sunnhordland in 1344 on the document to install king Haakon V of Norway. It was thus the oldest symbol used for the region and adapted as the arms and flag in 1961. The symbols refer to the patron saint of the guild, Saint Olav, King of Norway, whose symbol is an axe.^[4]

Coat of arms

The coat-of-arms were officially granted on 1 December 1961. They were designed by Magnus Hardeland, but the general design had been originally used in the Sunnhordland region during the 14th century. In the early 20th century, leaders of the county began using the old arms as a symbol for the county once again. The arms are on a red background and consist of two golden axes that are crossed with a golden crown above them.^[5]

More information Year, Pop. ...

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1769	63,757	—
1900	205,771	+222.7%
1950	308,164	+49.8%
1960	338,265	+9.8%
1970	369,430	+9.2%
1980	388,084	+5.0%
1990	407,427	+5.0%
2000	435,219	+6.8%
2010	477,175	+9.6%
2014	508,500	+6.6%
Source: Statistics Norway.^[6]^[7]

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More information Religion in Hordaland ...

Religion in Hordaland^[8]^[9]
religion			percent
Christianity			87.34%
Islam			0.77%
Buddhism			0.22%
Other			11.67%

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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 amts. Bergenhus amt originally consisted of the present-day areas of Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane, and Sunnmøre and the far northern 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]

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 (fylkesmann) who was the representative of the King and Government of Norway. Lars Sponheim was the last 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]

Nordhordland District Court: Askøy, Austevoll, Austrheim, Fedje, Fjell, Fusa, Lindås, Masfjorden, Meland, Modalen, Os, Osterøy, Radøy, Samnanger, Sund, Vaksdal, Voss, Øygarden, and Gulen (Gulen was actually in neighbouring Sogn og Fjordane county)
Sunnhordland District Court: Bømlo, Etne, Fitjar, Kvinnherad, Stord, Sveio and Tysnes
Bergen District Court: the city of Bergen
Hardanger District Court: Eidfjord, Granvin, Jondal, Kvam, Odda, Ullensvang and Ulvik

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]

Hordaland is semi-circular in shape. It is located on the western coast of Norway, split from southwest to northeast by the long, deep Hardangerfjorden, one of Norway's main fjords and a great tourist attraction. About half of the National park of Hardangervidda is in this county. The county also includes many well-known waterfalls, such as 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.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Hordaland county is twinned with:^[10]

Lower Normandy, France
Kaunas, Lithuania
Cardiff, Wales^[12]
Orkney Islands, Northern Isles, Scotland

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]

Ole Bull (1810–1880), composer, violinist
Tore Eikeland (1990–2011), politician
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), composer
Nordahl Grieg (1902–1943), writer
C. J. Hambro (1885–1964), politician
Julius Christopher Hammer (1798–1877). priest and politician
Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), writer
Leif Andreas Larsen ("Shetlands-Larsen") (1906–1990), military officer in World War II
Christian Michelsen (1857–1925), politician
Johan Sebastian Welhaven (1807–1873), writer
Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (1991-presents), DJ, musician
Alan Olav Walker (1997- presents), DJ, musician

[1]
"Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
[2]
"Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
[3]
Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". 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]
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.

County web site Archived 2005-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
Map of Hordaland

[1] [1]
"Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.

[2] [2]
"Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.

[3] [3]
Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.

[4] [4]
"Civic heraldry of Norway – Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-04-12.

[5] [5]
"Hordaland fylke" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2008-08-29.

[6] [6]
http://www.ssb.no/fob/kommunehefte/12/fob_12_tabeller.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[7] [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] [8]
Statistics Norway – Church of Norway.

[9] [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

[no-10] [10]
no:Hordaland

[11] [11]
The City and the Stril country University of Bergen Grind website.

[Cardiff_twinning-12] [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] [13]
"Edinburgh celebrates links with Norway". Scottish Field. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2021-09-19.

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Hordaland

Name