Kvinnherad
| Kvinnherad kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 59°55′41″N 6°2′13″E / 59.92806°N 6.03694°ECoordinates: 59°55′41″N 6°2′13″E / 59.92806°N 6.03694°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Hordaland | ||
| District | Sunnhordland | ||
| Administrative centre | Rosendal | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Synnøve Solbakken (Ap) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,135 km2 (438 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 1,080 km2 (420 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 90 in Norway | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 13,032 | ||
| • Rank | 80 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 12/km2 (30/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | 0.3 % | ||
| Demonym | Kvinnhering[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1224 | ||
| Official language form | Nynorsk | ||
| Website | www.kvinnherad.kommune.no | ||
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| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1951 | 5,638 | — |
| 1960 | 5,514 | −2.2% |
| 1970 | 11,811 | +114.2% |
| 1980 | 12,821 | +8.6% |
| 1990 | 13,121 | +2.3% |
| 2000 | 13,196 | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 13,032 | −1.2% |
| 2008 | 13,063 | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 13,112 | +0.4% |
| Source: Statistics Norway. | ||
Kvinnherad is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The parish of Kvindherred was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Fjelberg, most of Varaldsøy and parts of Skånevik merged with Kvinnherad on 1 January 1965.
The municipality is the 5th in size in Hordaland. The largest village is Husnes, with about 6,000 people living in or near the village.
Kvinnherad is situated in Sunnhordland, southeast of the Hardangerfjord. In the southern part of Kvinnherad you will find the typical fjord landscape of western Norway. The areas of Mauranger and Rosendal are said to have about the most beautiful fjord landscape of Hardanger as a whole: narrow fjords, wild water-falls, and the Folgefonna - the third biggest glacier in Norway.
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Kvinnaherað. The first element is maybe derived from tvinnr which means "double" (referring to the two rivers running through Rosendal, the administration centre of the municipality). The last element is herað which means "district" or "municipality".
The municipality name has been spelled several ways. Before 1889, the name was written "Quindherred", then from 1889-1917 it was "Kvinnherred", and since 1918 it has been spelled "Kvinnherad".
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 18 June 1982. The arms symbolize the many streams and rivers in the municipality, especially the Hattebergselvi and the Melselvi, that come together just before they run into the sea at Rosendal.[2]
[edit] Local media
Kvinnherad has two local newspapers, Kvinnheringen and Grenda, as well as a local TV channel, TV Sydvest.
[edit] Industry
The industry of Kvinnherad is based on the rich water resources within its boundaries. Power production, aluminium production (Sør-Norge Aluminium), sea-farming, shipbuilding (Eidsvik Skipsbyggeri, Hellesøy Verft, Bergen Group Halsnøy) and lifeboat production (Umoe Schat-Harding, Norsafe, Eide Marine Tech, Noreq) all have water as the main basis of production. These industries are spread throughout the municipality.
[edit] Tourism and places of interest
Kvinnherad is a popular tourism location, and in addition to its landscape, has several places of interest for tourists; the Kvinnherad church, Bondhusbreen, the shipping mural in Høylandsbygd and Radiohola to mention some. Rosendal is the main tourist village in the area, as well as the administration centre of the municipality. The greatest tourist attraction in Kvinnherad is also found here - the Barony Rosendal - the only one of its kind in Norway. The Barony is a museum, which offers valuable information about an important period of Norwegian history - the time of the Union with Denmark.
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The Barony Rosendal
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Husnes and the Hardangerfjord
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Bondhusbreen glacier
[edit] External links
- http://www.kvinnherad.kommune.no (Norwegian)
- http://www.baroniet.uio.no (Norwegian)
- Kvinnheradguiden.no (Norwegian)
- Kvinnheringen.no (Norwegian)
- Grenda.no (Norwegian)
- Innsida.no (Norwegian)
- Husnes Ungdomsskule (Norwegian)
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/k/kvinnher.htm. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
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