Sveio is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the traditional district of Haugalandet since it is located on the Haugalandet peninsula, but it is also considered to be in the traditional district of Sunnhordland since it is located in southern Hordaland county. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the village of

Sveio Sveio is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Haugalandet since it is located on th ...

. Other villages in the municipality include Auklandshamn, Førde, Våga, and Valevåg. The municipality is the 290th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sveio is the 165th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,732. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 6.1% over the previous 10-year period. Sveio is the site of the Ryvarden Lighthouse which marks the western entrance to the

Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord () is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the List of Norwegian fjords, second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mou ...

. The lighthouse is automated and the old keepers house and building have now been converted into

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

, the ''Flókemuseum'', and a cafe. The composer Fartein Valen lived much of his life in Valevåg in northern Sveio. ''Valenheimen'', the house he lived in is open to the public and the Fartein Valen Festival is held annually in Sveio. The Triangle Link bridge-tunnel network is based in northern Sveio, connecting the islands to the north to the mainland. The southern entrance to the

Bømlafjord Tunnel The Bømlafjord Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel under Bømlafjorden which connects the island of Føyno in Stord Municipality to the mainland at Dalshovda in Sveio Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel is long and reaches be ...

is located along the

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...

highway, just south of the village of Valevåg.

General information

The municipality of Sveio was established in 1865 when the part of Finnås municipality located south of the

Bømlafjorden Bømlafjorden () is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is the outer-most part of the Hardangerfjord, running between the island of Bømlo (in Bømlo Municipality) and the mainland ( Sveio Municipality). The Bømlafjord Tunnel crosse ...

(population: 2,227) and the Vikebygd part of the municipality of Fjelberg (population: 1,062) were joined as the new municipality of ''Sveen'' (later the spelling was changed to ''Sveio''). On 1 January 1902, the Vikebygd area (population: 1,092) was separated from Sveio to form its own municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, Sveio (population: 1,697) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Valestrand (population: 1,216), the western half of the municipality of Vikebygd (population: 471), and a small part of the municipality of Skjold (population: 24). The part of Skjold was transferred from

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county to Hordaland county on the same date.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the old ''

'' farm () since the medieval Sveio Church was built there. The name is identical with the word which means "to singe" or "to burn", referring to an area that was cleared by burning. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Sveen''. On 1 December 1911, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Sveio''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 19 February 1982. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, a

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

cleft

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

."'' (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a split

. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms are derived from the historic arms of Jon Gauteson from Sveio, who lived around the year 1500. His family became Norwegian nobility in 1591, and he was the first in his family to use this symbol as part of his arms. The municipal arms were designed by Kolbjørn Ekkje. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has two parishes () within the municipality of Sveio. It is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

Geography

The municipality is located on the mainland of Norway on the western coast of the county on the Haugalandet peninsula, facing the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

to the west. The entrance to the

lies along the northern side of the municipality, and the smaller Ålfjorden lies along the eastern border of the municipality. Sveio's southern border is also the county border, bordering the town of

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

and the municipality of

Tysvær Tysvær is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Haugalandet Districts of Norway, region. The municipality is located on the Haugalandet peninsula on the northern side ...

to the south, the municipality of

Vindafjord Vindafjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Haugaland. Since 2005, the administrative centre of the municipality has ...

to the east (across the Ålfjorden), and the island municipalities of

Bømlo Bømlo () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the muni ...

and

Stord Stord is a municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since i ...

to the north (across the Hardangerfjorden). The lakes Vigdarvatnet and Stakkastadvatnet lie in the southern part of the municipality, crossing into the neighboring municipalities. The Ryvarden Lighthouse is located on a small point, along the Hardangerfjorden.

Population

Government

Sveio Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Sveio is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Sveio: * 1865–1867: Jens Johannessen Tvedt * 1868–1869: Gunnar Johannessen Røkenes * 1870–1873: G.F. Gautessen * 1874–1877: Reinert Enerstvedt * 1878–1883: Gunnar Johannessen Røkenes * 1884–1893: Jakob Stensen Haukås ( H) * 1894–1901: Ivar Rodvold ( H) * 1902–1910: Absalon Eritsland ( H) * 1911–1913: Bendik Bjelland * 1914–1916: Mikal Mølstrevold * 1917–1922: Peder Hansen ( V) * 1923–1927: Georg Tveit ( V) * 1928–1945: Jakob Enerstvedt ( H) * 1946–1951: Sigurd Hjellum ( V) * 1952–1955: Harald Unneland ( V) * 1956–1963: Sigurd Hjellum ( V) * 1964–1967: Harald Unneland ( V) * 1968–1969: S. Ludvig Rasmussen ( V) * 1970–1973: Ingebrigt Rossehaug ( KrF) * 1974–1978: Harald Straume ( Sp) * 1978–1979: Olav Vihovde ( KrF) * 1988–1990: Mikal Møller Hovda ( H) * 1991–1991: Reinert Rød ( KrF) * 1992–1999: Magnus Skåden ( Ap) * 1999–2003: Olav Haugen ( KrF) * 2003–2011: Jorunn Skåden ( Ap) * 2011–2015: Ruth Grethe Eriksen ( FrP) * 2015–2019: Jorunn Skåden ( Ap) * 2019–2023: Linn Therese Erve ( Ap) * 2023-present: André Mundal Haukås ( H)

Notable people

* Einar Økland (born 1940 in Sveio), a Norwegian poet, playwright, essayist, and children's writer * May Britt Vihovde (born 1958 in Sveio), a politician and former Member of Parliament * Sigbjørn Apeland (born 1966), a scientist and musician, who plays organ and harmonium, was raised in Sveio * Bjørn Berge (born 1968 in Sveio), a Norwegian guitarist and blues artist * Grutle Kjellson (born 1973 in Sveio), a bassist and vocalist in the progressive black metal band Enslaved * Agnes Ravatn (born 1983), an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

, and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who lived in Valevåg * Cecilie Pedersen (born 1990 in Førde), a Norwegian football striker

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Welcome to SveioSveio kommune website
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 1865 establishments in Norway