Eigersund 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' ...

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,

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 ...

. It is in the traditional district of

Dalane Dalane is a traditional district in the southwestern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund, and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway. It sits to the southeast of the very flat ...

. 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 town of

Egersund Egersund is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger (city), Stavanger. The town is situat ...

. The town was known for its pottery factory (closed in 1979) and it is among Norway's biggest fishing ports. The villages of Helleland, Hellvik, and

Hestnes Hestnes is a small village in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland 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 i ...

are also in Eigersund. The island of Eigerøya lies just off shore from Egersund. The island has several well-known businesses and attractions including the Eigerøy war memorial from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The municipality is the 228th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eigersund is the 80th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 15,011. 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 2.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The rural

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 ...

surrounding the town of

was established as the municipality of ''Egersund landdisstrikt'' (Egersund rural district) on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). In 1839, the northwestern district of Augne (population: 825) was separated to form its own municipality. On 12 December 1868, a small area of Eigersund municipality (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Sokndal Municipality. In 1947, an area of Eigersund immediately surrounding the town of

(population: 515) was transferred to the town of Egersund and another area in Sokndal (population: 7) was transferred to Eigersund. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers in 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 1965, the town of

(population: 3,787) was merged with the neighboring Eigersund Municipality (population: 4,664), Helleland Municipality (population: 851), and the Gyadalen and Grøsfjel areas of Heskestad Municipality (population: 114). The new municipality was also called Eigersund. On 1 January 1967, the Tjørn farm (population: 10) was transferred from Eigersund to Sokndal.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the Eigersundet strait (). The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the name of the island of ''Eikund'' (now Eigerøya). The name of the island comes from the word which means " oak" followed by the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

which means "plentiful of" (i.e. "the island covered with oak trees"). The last element is which means "

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

" or "

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

". ;"Egersund" vs. "Eigersund" Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Egersund''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Eigersund''. The town of

within the municipality, however, did not change and it kept the old spelling. The form of the name spelled without the

diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...

i(''Egersund'') is the

Danish language Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...

form of the name and at that time the municipal name was changed to use the Norwegian language form. The town kept the old spelling for historic purposes.

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 20 October 1972. 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 ''"

Vert Vert or Verts may refer to: * Vert (heraldry), the colour green in heraldry * Vert (music producer) (born 1972), pseudonym of Adam Butler, an English music producer * Vert (river), in southern France * Vert (sport), a competition in extreme versio ...

, an oak leaf Or"'' (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is an oak leaf. The oak leaf 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 ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms are

canting arms Canting arms are heraldry, heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. The expression derives from the latin ''cantare'' (to sing). French heralds used the term (), ...

since the name is derived from ''Eikundarsund'' and the ''eik'' part means "oak". Oaks are also very common in the municipality. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg. 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 three parishes () within the municipality of Eigersund. It is part of the Dalane 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 Stavanger.

History

The place is mentioned in

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

's writings. Later, Christian IV set up a battery there.

Government

Eigersund 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 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 ...

is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Eigersund is made up of 31 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 () of Eigersund: * 1838–1839: Torger Andersen Fotland * 1840–1841: Peder Torgersen Skadberg * 1842–1843: Bernt Theophiliussen Bowitz * 1844–1845: Tønnes Johnsen Årstad * 1846–1849: Jonas Sigmundsen Slettebø * 1850–1853: Tønnes Johnsen Årstad * 1854–1855: Trond Årstad * 1856–1859: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1860–1861: Ole Sivertsen Svanes * 1862–1863: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1864–1865: Reinert Larsen Skjelbred * 1866–1867: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1868–1869: Ole Sivertsen Svanes * 1870–1873: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1874–1875: Anders Andersen Ege * 1876–1879: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1880–1881: Salve Petersen Koldal * 1882–1883: Anders Torgersen Tengs * 1884–1887: Lars Bernhard Hansen Åse * 1888–1893: Ingvald Årstad * 1894–1895: Tønnes Olsen Svanes * 1896–1897: Ole Andreas Pedersen Slettebø * 1898–1907: Ingvald Årstad * 1908–1910: Halvard Mjølsnes * 1911–1913: Erik Stefanussen Heigrestad * 1914–1916: Anders Larsen Øglend * 1917–1919: Hans Ommundsen Slettebø * 1920–1922: Anders Larsen Øglend * 1923–1925: Hans Ommundsen Slettebø * 1926–1931: Trygve Eie * 1932–1937: Hans Ommundsen Slettebø * 1938–1942: Trygve Eie * 1946–1956: Jonas Severin Rodvelt * 1956–1964: Tønnes Lædre * 1965–1967: Sem Varhaug ( Sp) * 1967–1967: John Munkejord ( H) * 1968–1971: Tor Friestad ( KrF) * 1971–1971: Erling Bergundhaugen ( Ap) * 1972–1975: Rasmann Polden ( Sp) * 1976–1983: Bjørn Bårdsen ( KrF) * 1984–1987: Jostein Sirevåg ( KrF) * 1988–1989: Olaf Aurdal ( H) * 1990–1996: Jan Petter Rasmussen ( Ap) * 1996–1996: Solveig Ege Tengesdal ( KrF) * 1996–2003: Marit Myklebust ( Ap) * 2003–2007: John Skaara ( H) * 2007–2011: Terje Jørgensen, Jr. ( H) * 2011–2015: Leif Erik Egaas ( H) * 2015–2023: Odd Stangeland ( Ap) * 2023-present: Anja Hovland ( H)

Geography

Eigersund extends from 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 ...

coast to the border of

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county. It borders the municipalities of Hå and Bjerkreim to the north and Sokndal to the south. The municipality is centered on the town of

, and includes the island of Eigerøya. The landscape includes many rivers and lakes, as well as woods and several barren rocky and heather-clad

moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet, Eiavatnet, Nodlandsvatnet, and Teksevatnet lie in the municipality.

Eigerøya

Eigerøya is an island off the coast of Egersund. The island is connected to the mainland over Eigerøy bridge, which was completed in 1951. The island's coastline is characterized by a number of small bays, as well as Lundarviga. Eigerøya is divided almost in two of the large bay of Lundarviga. The island is surrounded by a number of small islets. Eigerøy Lighthouse and Vibberodden Lighthouse are both located along the shores of Eigerøya.

Climate

Transportation

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 ...

runs through the municipality, passing the village of Helleland. The Sørlandet Line runs through the municipality, stopping at Egersund Station and Hellvik Station.

Notable people

* Michael Birkeland (1830 in Eigersund – 1896), a historian, civil servant, and politician * Peter C. Assersen (1839 in Egersund – 1906), a civil engineer and

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

* Bernt B. Lomeland (1836 in Helleland – 1900), a school teacher and lay minister * Elisabeth Fedde (1850–1921), a Lutheran Deaconess who lived in Egersund from 1895 * Anna Bugge (1862 in Egersund – 1928), a Norwegian & Swedish feminist, lawyer, diplomat, and politician * Jacob Thorkelson (1876 in Egersund – 1945), a US Congressman from

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

* Jack Nielsen (1896 in Egersund – 1981), a Norwegian tennis player and six-time national champion * Paulus Svendsen (1904 in Egersund – 1989), a literary historian, wrote biographies of Western philosophers * Thorbjørn Feyling (1907 in Egersund – 1985), a ceramist with Stavangerflint AS * Johnny Stenberg (born 1925 in Eigersund - 1990), a politician who was mayor of Meråker from 1966-1973 * John Olav Larssen (1927 in Hellvik – 2009), an evangelical preacher and missionary * Gunnar Kvassheim (born 1953 in Eigersund), a Norwegian journalist and politician * Bengt Sæternes (born 1975 in Egersund), a former footballer with 478 club caps and 7 for

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 ...

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2020 Municipalities of Rogaland 1838 establishments in Norway