Gulen
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| Gulen kommune | |||
| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Sogn og Fjordane | ||
| District | Sogn | ||
| Municipality ID | NO-1411 | ||
| Administrative centre | Eivindvik | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor (2003) | Trude Brosvik (KrF) | ||
| Area (Nr. 184 in Norway) | |||
| - Total | 597 km² (230.5 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 575 km² (222 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| - Total | 2,462 | ||
| - Density | 4/km² (10.4/sq mi) | ||
| - Change (10 years) | -1.6 % | ||
| - Rank in Norway | 305 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Official language form | Nynorsk | ||
| Demonym | Guling[1] | ||
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| Website: www.gulen.kommune.no | |||
Gulen is a municipality in the southwestern part of Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik.
The municipality of Gulen surrounds the Gulafjorden, which is considered to be the place where Norway's west-coastal Vikings met at the Gulating, a governing body. The area in Gulafjorden called Flolid (just east of the village of Eivindvik) is now a national historic place, where an open air theater and annual summer play commemorates the Vikings who gathered there 1000 years ago to accept Christianity.
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[edit] About the Municipality
[edit] The name 'Gulen'
The name (Old Norse Guli) originally belonged to the fjord (now called Gulafjorden). The name is probably derived from the word gul which means '(strong) wind'. Until 1891 the name of the municipality was Evenvig or Eivindvig (now written Eivindvik).
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1990). It shows the two stone crosses found near the village of Eivindvik that are believed to be about 1000 years old, erected there after the Vikings who met at the Gulating gathering embraced Christianity.
[edit] History
Eivindvig was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The municipality of 1838 was created to be identical to the Eivindvig parish (prestegjeld) that included the three sub-parishes (kapellsogn) of Eivindvik, Brekke, and Husøy.
The sub-parish of Brekke was separated from the municipality in 1850 to form a municipality of its own, leaving a total of 3,944 residents in Eivindvig. In 1858, the sub-parish of Husøy was separated from Eivindvig to form its own municipality called Utvær (renamed Solund in 1891). This left Eivindvig with 3,018 inhabitants.
On 1 July 1891 the name of Eivindvig municipality was changed to Gulen. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Brekke was merged with Gulen. Also on that same date, the island of Losna was transferred from Gulen to Solund.[2]
[edit] Local Churches
The Church of Norway has three churches in Gulen:
- Brekke church (built in 1862) is in the village of Brekke in the eastern part of the municipality.
- Gulen church (built in 1863) is in the village of Eivindvik in the central part of the municipality.
- Mjømna church (built in 1901) is on the island of Mjømna in the western part of the municipality.
[edit] Schools
The roughly 2500 residents live scattered throughout the municipality and are divided into four school districts: Brekke, Eivindvik, Dalsøyra, and Byrknes.
[edit] Government
All municipalities in Norway, including Gulen, 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.
There are 21 representatives that are elected to the municipal council every four years. For 2007-2011, the party breakdown is as follows:
- Centre Party (Senterpartiet) - 6 representatives
- Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig folkeparti) - 5 representatives
- Conservative Party (Høyre) - 4 representatives
- Labour Party (Det Norske Arbeiderpartiet) - 3 representatives
- Liberal Party (Venstre) - 3 representatives[3]
The current mayor of Gulen is Trude Brosvik of the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig folkeparti).
[edit] Geography
Gulen has an area of about 600 km2 including about 1500 small islands, islets, and skerries.[4] The mainland is characterized by small valleys and large mountains crossing the landscape.
Gulen is bounded on the north by the Sognefjord and to the south by the Fensfjord with the North Sea to the west of then municipality. Gulen is bordered by the municipalities of Solund and Hyllestad to the north, by Høyanger to the east, and by Fedje, Lindås, and Masfjorden (all three in Hordaland county) to the south.
The area is a geological region that contains a relatively low nutrition content ground, which characterizes the types of flora. The moors, which are frequently covered with wild purple heather, are the dominating picure of the area. Due to the large quantity of rain in the area there are lots of types of moss and lichen in Gulen.[5]
Most of the land in Gulen is very mountainous and inhospitable. The land use in Gulen is as follows:
- Agricultural 4%
- Forest 19%
- Water 3%
- Other 74%
[edit] Economy
Historically, Gulen's economy has been centered around farming and fishing. There are 135 farms in the municipality of Gulen.[6]
Today, Gulen is important because of its close proximity to the Mongstad industrial area which includes many oil refineries operated by StatoilHydro, Shell Oil, and other oil companies. Other factories and industries in Gulen include Wergeland-Halsvik, Baker Oil Tools, Johnny Birkeland Transport, and Vest Tank. There are many other small businesses located in Gulen today.
[edit] Attractions
[edit] Tusenårsstaden (Gulating)
A sculpture park was built in Flolid in Gulen in order to commemorate the fact that the Gulating legislative assembly met regularly on the shores of the Gulafjord for a period of five hundred years. In 1300 the assembly was moved to Bergen. This was where important political issues were discussed and decisions were made. The members of the assembly represented the farmers of Western Norway, and the Gulating is thus related to the representative institutions of today such as the municipal council and the Norwegian Parliament, Storting.
The old assembly was also used as a law court for both civil and criminal cases. The Norwegian sculptor Bård Breivik is responsible for the artistic elements. The park is a work of art in its own right that is used as the setting for outdoor dance and musical performances in beautiful and unique natural surroundings.
[edit] Sellevåg Wooden Shoe Factory
Wooden shoes were produced in Sellevåg from 1899–1975. The factory was powered by water in the Sellevåg Lake. The wooden shoe factory is still there with all its production equipment in tact. A guided tour with demonstration can be arranged on request.
[edit] Trondheim Post-Road
The historic mail route from Bergen and Trondheim, The post-road goes through Fjaler, Hyllestad and Gulen municipalities. Built between 1801 and 1806, it passes over many beautiful stone bridges.[7]
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
- ^ Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg (Norwegian)
- ^ Oddvar Natvik (09 Feb 2005). Some historical data on the 26 Kommunes. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
- ^ Statistics Norway. Municipal council election 2007. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
- ^ Statistics Norway (1 January 2008). Figures on Gulen Municipality. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
- ^ Scandion.no. Gulen - møtestad for lov og rett. Retrieved on 3 June 2008. (Norwegian)
- ^ Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane. Gård Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
- ^ GoNorway.no. Gulen in Sogn og Fjordane. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
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