| Historical population |
|---|
| Year |
Pop. | ±% |
|---|
| 1769 |
466 | — |
| 1951 |
1,126 | +141.6% |
| 1960 |
1,015 | −9.9% |
| 1980 |
1,208 | +19.0% |
| 1990 |
1,070 | −11.4% |
| 2000 |
1,037 | −3.1% |
| 2010? |
949 | −8.5% |
| 2020? |
1,028 | +8.3% |
| 2030? |
1,116 | +8.6% |
| Source: Statistics Norway . |
Eidfjord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Eidfjord was separated from Ulvik May 1, 1891. (Eidfjord was merged with Ullensvang from January 1, 1964 to January 1, 1977.)[2]
Eidfjord has two townships, Eidfjord and Øvre Eidfjord. Eidfjord is the municipality center situated by Eidfjorden, and is a major cruise harbour. Eidfjord has several tourist sites, like the Sima Power Plant built into the mountain itself, the waterfall Vøringsfossen with a free fall of 182 m and large parts of Europe's largest mountain plateau, Hardangervidda. Here is also the Hardangervidda Natursenter.
General information
Name
The municipality is named after Eidfjorden (Old Norse Eiðafjörðr). The first element is the genitive case of the name of the farm Eiðar, the old church site. The second element is fjord. The name of the farm is the plural form of eið which means "land between two waters" (in this case: the fjord and the lake of Eidfjordvatnet).[2]
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 13 July 1984. The arms show a reindeer antler, as the first known settlers in the area were reindeer hunters. The reindeer has been of importance for the population here for many centuries. The antler also symbolizes the rivers that run from the mountain into the fjord.[3]
History
The parish of Eidfjord was very special as it belonged to the bishop of Stavanger (and not the bishop of Bergen as all the other parishes of Hordaland) from 1125 to 1630. The reason for this was that the regions of Hallingdal and Valdres belonged to the bishop of Stavanger - and the easiest way to reach them was by sailing up the Hardangerfjord to Eidfjord, and then go over the mountains. (See diocese of Stavanger and diocese of Bergen.)
See also
References
