Vikebygd Municipality
Vikebygd is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located along the eastern and western shores of the Ålfjorden, a small branch off the main Hardangerfjorden. The municipality is located in the present-day Sveio Municipality and in Vindafjord Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Vikebygd, where Vikebygd Church is located.
History
Historically, the parish of Vikebygd was a part of the old Fjeldberg Municipality. In 1865, Vikebygd parish became a part of the new Sveen Municipality. On 1 January 1902, the eastern part of Sveen Municipality was separated to form the new municipality of Vikebygd. Initially, Vikebygd had a population of 1,092.During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Vikebygd was dissolved. Using Ålfjorden as a dividing line the western part of Vikebygd was merged into the neighboring Sveio Municipality and the eastern part was merged into the neighboring Ølen Municipality. On 1 January 2006, all of Ølen municipality was incorporated into Vindafjord Municipality in Rogaland county.