Bjørnafjorden Municipality
Bjørnafjorden kommune
View of Os in Bjørnafjorden
View of Os in Bjørnafjorden
Coat of arms of Bjørnafjorden Municipality
Vestland within Norway
Vestland within Norway
Bjørnafjorden within Vestland
Bjørnafjorden within Vestland
Coordinates: 60°11′44″N 5°37′20″E / 60.19547°N 5.62225°E / 60.19547; 5.62225
CountryNorway
CountyVestland
DistrictMidhordland
Established1 Jan 2020
  Preceded byFusa and Os
Administrative centreOsøyro
Government
  Mayor (2020)Trine Lindborg (Ap)
Area
  Total517.40 km2 (199.77 sq mi)
  Land487.21 km2 (188.11 sq mi)
  Water30.19 km2 (11.66 sq mi)  5.8%
  Rank#205 in Norway
Population
 (2022)
  Total25,213
  Rank#47 in Norway
  Density51.7/km2 (134/sq mi)
  Change (10 years)
Increase +17.1%
DemonymBjørnafjording[1]
Official language
  Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-4624[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Bjørnafjorden is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Midhordland region of the county. The administrative centre of Bjørnafjorden is the village of Osøyro. Other villages in the municipality include Eikelandsosen, Fusa, Holdhus, Holmefjord, Vinnes, Strandvik, Sundvord, Hagavik, Halhjem, Søfteland, Søre Øyane, and Søvik.[4]

The 517-square-kilometre (200 sq mi) municipality is the 205th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjørnafjorden is the 47th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 25,213. The municipality's population density is 51.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (134/sq mi) and its population has increased by 17.1% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Os and Fusa were merged.[4]

Name

The municipality is named after the Bjørnafjorden, a local fjord which is a central geographic feature of the municipality. The first element is bjørn which means "bear". The last element is the definite form of fjord which means "fjord". Thus this is "the bear fjord".[4]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was adopted in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger took effect. The official blazon is "Azure, a boat's bow and two spirals issuant from each side Or". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the bow of a boat and below that are two curved wave shapes. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The boat and waves symbolize the water and the importance of the sea. The boat is designed to look like an oselvar, a traditional rowing boat made in the area. The curved wave designs also allude to the local rosemaling designs and the local Giant's kettles (geysers) in Koldal. The arms were designed by Johan D. Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[4][7]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Bjørnafjorden. It is part of the Fana prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Bjørnafjorden
Parish (sokn)Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
FusaFusa ChurchFusa1961
Holdhus ChurchHoldhus1726
Hålandsdal ChurchEide in Hålandsdal1890
Strandvik ChurchStrandvik1857
Sundvor ChurchSundvord1927
OsOs ChurchOsøyro1870
Nore Neset ChurchHagavik2000

Government

All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[8] The municipality falls under the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bjørnafjorden is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Bjørnafjorden kommunestyre 20202023 [9]  
Party name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 8
  Progress Party (Framstegspartiet) 12
  Green Party (Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne) 3
  Conservative Party (Høgre) 5
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 1
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 5
  Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) 1
Total number of members:35

Mayors

The mayors of Bjørnafjorden:

  • 2020-present: Trine Lindborg (Ap)

Notable people

Terje Soviknes,2010

Sport

References

  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. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Thorsnæs, Geir. "Bjørnafjorden". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  6. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
  7. Grønvigh, Kjetil Osablod (20 February 2019). "Johan D. Eide er mannen bak det nye kommunevåpenet". Midtsiden.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  8. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  9. "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Vestland". Valg Direktoratet. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  10. "Trine Lindborg er ordførar i Bjørnafjorden kommune - Bjørnafjorden kommune". bjornafjorden.kommune.no. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  11. Olsen, Benjamin Søgnen (6 January 2017). "Merk deg namnet: Boy Pablo" [Name to note: Boy Pablo]. Os og Fusaposten (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. "Babylykke for Sverre Lunde Pedersen". www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 3 May 2021.

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