| Kvam herad | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Kvam within Hordaland | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Hordaland | ||
| District | Hardanger | ||
| Administrative centre | Norheimsund | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2011) | Asbjørn Tolo (Høyre) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 616 km2 (237.8 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 580 km2 (223.9 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 180 in Norway | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 8,389 | ||
| • Rank | 122 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 14/km2 (36.3/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -2.6 % | ||
| Demonym | Kvemming[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1238 | ||
| Official language form | Nynorsk | ||
| Website | www.kvam.kommune.no | ||
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| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1951 | 5,530 | — |
| 1960 | 6,525 | +18.0% |
| 1970 | 9,017 | +38.2% |
| 1980 | 8,733 | −3.1% |
| 1990 | 8,773 | +0.5% |
| 2000 | 8,592 | −2.1% |
| 2007 | 8,230 | −4.2% |
| 2008 | 8,210 | −0.2% |
| 2009 | 8,338 | +1.6% |
| Source: Statistics Norway. | ||
Kvam is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The parish of Vikør was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Parts of Strandebarm were merged with Kvam on 1 January 1965. The municipality borders Voss to the north, Vaksdal, Samnanger and Fusa to the west, Granvin to the east and Hardangerfjorden to the south.
Important settlements in the municipality include Norheimsund, Øystese, Ålvik, Tørvikbygd, Strandebarm and Mundheim. Norheimsund and Øystese are the largest settlements with 2,087 and 1,626 inhabitants respectively.[2] The largest lakes are Bjølsegrøvvatnet and Holmavatnet. In addition a portion of Hamlagrøvatnet is located in Kvam.
In 2007 Kvam participated in a trial where the mayor was directly elected. The sitting mayor, Astrid Selsvold, won the election with 26.7% of the votes.
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The Old Norse form of the name was Hvammr, identical with the word hvammr which means "(small) valley".
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 27 November 1981. The arms show the Fykesund, a bay in the municipality. The shape of the bay is symbolized in the coat-of-arms.[3]
Kvam was created in 1837 as Vikør formannskapsdistrikt, named after the parish today known as Vikøy. According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 2,321.[4] The name was changed from Vikør to Kvam in 1912.[5]
On 1 January 1965 the district Åsgrenda with 61 inhabitants was moved to Ullensvang municipality. At the same time the size of Kvam was significantly enlarged when parts of the municipalities Strandebarm, Varaldsøy and Jondal were incorporated into Kvam. After the merger Kvam had a population of 9,119.[6]
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