Stord


Stord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural land, and mountain areas. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leirvik, which is also the largest town in the municipality and the whole region of Sunnhordland. Leirvik was declared a town in 1997. Other population centres in the municipality include the large village of Sagvåg and the smaller villages of Litlabø and Grov.
The municipality is the 316th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Stord is the 68th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 18,759. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 6.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Stordøen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1863, the northern district of the municipality was separated to become the new municipality of Fitjar. On 15 May 1868, the southern district of Stordøen located on the mainland was separated to form the new municipality of Valestrand. On 1 January 1898, the southern part of the island of Huglo was transferred from the neighboring municipality of Fjelberg to Stord. On 1 January 1970, the small uninhabited part of the island of Stord along the Valvatnavågen that belonged to Bømlo was transferred to Stord municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the large island of Stord. The name is old and it was used in Icelandic literature meaning "ground" or "earth". Before 1889, the name was written "Stordøen".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 19 June 1987. The arms shows a yellow twig of holly on a red background. The holly was chosen since it is a common tree in the municipality. The designer was Truls Nygaard.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Stord. It is part of the Sunnhordland prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
StordStord ChurchLeirvik1857
NysæterNysæter ChurchSagvåg1991

Geography

Stord is located on the southern half of the island of Stord. The municipality also includes the islands of Huglo Storstøya, Nautøya, and Føyno. The Hardangerfjorden runs along the southern border of the island municipality, separating it from the municipalities of Kvinnherad, Vindafjord, and Sveio. The Langenuen strait runs along the eastern side, separating it from Tysnes municipality. The Stokksundet and Digernessundet straits runs along the western border, separating it from the municipality of Bømlo. The mountain Mehammarsåto is the highest point in the municipality.

History

The battle of Stord was fought on or by this island between the Norwegian king Hakon Haraldsson and the Danish king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, supported by Hakon's brother's sons led by Harald "Greycloak" Eiriksson.

Economy

The 3 largest private employers in Stord municipality are: Kværner, Wärtsilä Norway AS and Leirvik AS. Together these three companies employ more than 3000 people.
Kværner Stord, situated south of Leirvik on the peninsula of Eldøyane, is the largest yard in Norway. Aker Stord has built the biggest oil production platforms in the world, Gullfaks C and Troll.

Transport

An extensive tunnel and bridge system, the Triangle Link, connected Stord to the mainland on 27 December 2000 and to the neighboring island of Bømlo on 30 April 2001. The bridges involved are the Bømla Bridge and Stord Bridge and the tunnel is the Bømlafjord Tunnel. The airport in Stord is Stord Airport, Sørstokken, is located northwest of Sagvåg on the Sørstokken peninsula. On 10 October 2006, Atlantic Airways Flight 670 skidded off the runway at the airport. Four people died.

Health Care

Stord Hospital is a local hospital for the municipalities in Sunnhordland, with a total of around 50,000 inhabitants. The hospital has specialist health services in medicine, surgery, X-ray / lab and food / gynecology. Stord District Psychiatric Center is close by and has specialist health services within mental health care for adults and children / adolescents. Stord ambulance station has premises in the same area and Sunnhordland inter-municipal emergency room is co-located with the hospital.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Stord, are responsible for primary education, 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. The municipality falls under the Sunnhordland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Stord is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Stord :