Stad or Stadlandet is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

in Stad Municipality in the northwestern part of the Nordfjord district in

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 in

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 ...

. The peninsula is considered the dividing point between the Norwegian Sea to the north and 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 south. The name is sometimes also written as ''Stadt'', ''Statt'', or ''Statlandet'' (not to be confused with the similar German word '' Stadt''), because the Norwegian pronunciation of the ''d'' in this case is as a ''t''. The name could be translated as "''the land of places''" or ''"the land of towns''". Some of the larger villages on the peninsula include Ervik (northwestern tip), Borgundvåg and Leikanger (northeastern side), and the village of Selje (southwestern side).

Geography

The peninsula is a mountain

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

topped by the Tarvaldsegga peak. There are several lower valleys on the peninsula, but at the western end, the plateau plunges into the sea in a cliff at ''Kjerringa''. Stad Peninsula has a very harsh, windy

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

. The highest wind speed in the country is often recorded at this promontory. Located between the cities of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

(to the south) and Ålesund (in Møre og Romsdal county to the north), this is the only peninsula of mainland between

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

and

Honningsvåg Honningsvåg is the northernmost cities and towns, northernmost city/town in mainland Norway. It is located in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county. Honningsvåg was declared a city in 1996, despite its small population. The town has a po ...

that goes out into open sea without any archipelago that breaks waves. Most of the rest of the ship route from Bergen to Ålesund is protected by islands. The Svinøy Lighthouse (''Svinøy fyr'') is located north of the peninsula on a small island in the Norwegian Sea. Because of the harsh climate, the peninsula can be an obstacle for ship transport along the coast of Norway. It is one of the main obstacles preventing a fast-boat passenger route from

to Ålesund, a distance of . Current transportation from Bergen-Ålesund is by air via

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, by car (7–8 hours), by bus (9 hours) or by the Hurtigruten coastal ferry (13 hours). As far back as the 1870s there were plans for the construction of a ship

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

. A pilot project was developed in 1985, and the development company founded the same year. Plans are currently well underway to build the Stad Ship Tunnel at the narrowest point connecting the Moldefjorden to the Kjødspollen (the innermost part of the Vanylvsfjorden) with capacity to take large ships such as the Hurtigruten vessels.

Media gallery

File:Indre Fure, Stadtlandet.jpg, The sea at Indre Fure, in the Stad peninsula File:Stad.jpg, View of the cliffs at the end of Stad File:Mot Fure på Stadlandet.jpg, View of Fure in the distance File:Stadt Årvik.jpg, Årvik File:Stadt Indre Fure.jpg, Indre Fure File:Stadt Honningsvåg.jpg, Honningsvåg File:Stadt Hoddevik.jpg, Hoddevik

References

External links

Selje Municipality

Official travel guide for the Nordfjord region
{{Authority control Peninsulas of Vestland Stad, Norway

Geography

Media gallery

See also

References

External links