Sokndal

For places with similar names, see Sogndal (disambiguation).
Sokndal kommune
Municipality


Coat of arms
Rogaland within
Norway

Sokndal within Rogaland
Coordinates: 58°21′54″N 06°18′37″E / 58.36500°N 6.31028°E / 58.36500; 6.31028Coordinates: 58°21′54″N 06°18′37″E / 58.36500°N 6.31028°E / 58.36500; 6.31028
Country Norway
County Rogaland
District Dalane
Administrative centre Hauge i Dalene
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Trond Arne Pedersen (KrF)
Area
 • Total 294.97 km2 (113.89 sq mi)
 • Land 267.15 km2 (103.15 sq mi)
 • Water 27.82 km2 (10.74 sq mi)
Area rank 280 in Norway
Population (2016)
 • Total 3,313
 • Rank 255 in Norway
 • Density 12.4/km2 (32/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 0.4 %
Demonym(s) Sokndøl[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1111
Official language form Neutral
Website www.sokndal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Sokndal is the southernmost municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hauge. Other villages in Sokndal include Li, Rekefjord, Sogndalsstranda, and Åna-Sira.

Sogndalsstranda is a picturesque, old fishing village, which may have inspired the municipality in becoming Norway's first member of Cittaslow. The Jøssingfjorden, known for the Altmark Incident, is also located in Sokndal.

General information

Village of Åna-Sira
Village of Sogndalsstranda
Landscape in Sokndal

The parish of Soggendal (later Sokndal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1845, the small lading place of Sogndal (population: 348) was separated from Sokndal as a municipality of its own. This left Sokndal with 2,819 residents. On 12 December 1868, a small part of Sokndal (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Eigersund municipality. On 1 July 1944, the small lading place of Sogndal (population: 311) was reincorporated into Sokndal. In 1947, a small area in Sokndal (population: 7) was transferred to Eigersund. On 1 January 1967, the Tjørn farm (population: 10) was transferred from Eigersund to Sokndal.[2]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Sóknardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Sókn (now Sokno) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The river name is derived from the Old Norse verb sœkja which means "seek" and so the meaning is "the river which seeks (finds/forces) its way". Before 1918, the name was written "Sogndal" or "Soggendahl".[3]

See also: Name of Sogndal municipality

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 8 July 1988. The arms show three black pickaxes on a yellow background. These were chosen to symbolize the importance of mining and agriculture in the municipality. It was designed by Johan Digernes of Haugesund.[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sokndal. It is part of the Dalane deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Sokndal
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
SokndalSokndal ChurchHauge1803
Åna-Sira ChurchÅna-Sira1888

Geography

The municipality is the southernmost in Rogaland county. The North Sea lies to the south and west, the river Sira and the Åna fjord lie to the southeast (separating it from Flekkefjord in Vest-Agder county), the municipality of Lund lies to the east and north, and the municipality of Eigersund lies to the northwest. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet and Eiavatnet both lie on the northern border of the municipality. The coastline of Sokndal is fairly smooth, although there are two larger fjords which cut into the municipality: the Rekefjorden and Jøssingfjorden. The Lille Presteskjær Lighthouse marks the entrance to the Rekefjorden. The southeastern part of the municipality is very rocky and rugged. It is the site of the large Tellnes mine, a large producer of titanium.[5]

Climate

Climate data for Hauge
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 1.6
(34.9)		 4.7
(40.5)		 9.7
(49.5)		 13.1
(55.6)		 14.6
(58.3)		 14.4
(57.9)		 11.3
(52.3)		 8.2
(46.8)		 3.9
(39)		 0.9
(33.6)		 6.8
(44.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 150
(5.91)		 105
(4.13)		 120
(4.72)		 85
(3.35)		 93
(3.66)		 98
(3.86)		 118
(4.65)		 150
(5.91)		 190
(7.48)		 210
(8.27)		 193
(7.6)		 163
(6.42)		 1,675
(65.94)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[6]

Economy

Tellnes opencast Ilmenite mine

At Tellnes, just east of Hauge i Dalane, there is an ilmenite mine run by Titania AS, supplying 10% of the world production of ilmenite (a type of titanium). It's also the world's largest opencast ilmenite mine.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sokndal, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sokndal is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Sokndal Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet7
 Progress PartyFremskrittspartiet2
 Conservative PartyHøyre3
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti6
 Centre PartySenterpartiet1
 Liberal PartyVenstre2
Total number of members:21

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  5. ↑ Store norske leksikon. "Sokndal" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  6. ↑ "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
  7. ↑ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
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