Hordaland

Hordaland 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.

WWW Official Site

Name and symbols

Name

Hordaland is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The meaning of the first element is unknown. The last element is land which means 'land' or 'region' in the Norwegian language.
Until 1919 the name of the county was Bergenhus len which meant ' southern Bergenhus amt'.

Flag

Hordaland's flag shows two axes and a crown in gold on a red field. 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.

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.

History

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.
In 1662, the lens were replaced by amt in Norway|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 Gulen Municipality 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.
The city of Bergen was classified as a city-county from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915, Årstad Municipality was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg and Åsane were annexed into the city of Bergen, creating a much larger Bergen Municipality. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county.

Government

A county ' 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 '. Heading the Fylkesting was the county mayor '. The last county mayor for the Hordaland County Municipality was Anne Gine Hestetun.
The county also had a County Governor ' 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 : Nordhordland, Sunnhordland, Bergen, and Hardanger. Hordaland was also part of the Gulating Court of Appeal district based in Bergen.

Nordhordland District Court: Askøy, Austevoll, Austrheim, Fedje, Fjell, Fusa, Lindås, Masfjorden, Meland, Modalen, Os, Osterøy, Radøy, Samnanger, Sund, Vaksdal, Voss, Øygarden, and Gulen
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 Municipality and Solund Municipality 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.

Geography

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 lived in Bergen Municipality and the surrounding area. Other urban or semi-urban centres include Leirvik, Vossavangen, and Odda.
[Image:Hordaland Municipalities.png|right|550px|Location of Oppland Municipalities]

Municipalities

Districts

Cities

Parishes

Villages

Former municipalities

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Hordaland county is twinned with:

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.

Notable people

Ole Bull, a composer and violinist
Tore Eikeland, a politician
Edvard Grieg, a composer
Nordahl Grieg, a writer
C. J. Hambro, a politician
Julius Christopher Hammer, a priest and politician
Ludvig Holberg, a writer
Leif Andreas Larsen, a military officer in World War II
Christian Michelsen, a politician
Johan Sebastian Welhaven, a writer
Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, a DJ and musician
Alan Olav Walker, a DJ and musician