Eigersund
Eigersund kommune | |||
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Municipality | |||
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Eigersund within Rogaland | |||
Coordinates: 58°28′42″N 6°3′47″E / 58.47833°N 6.06306°ECoordinates: 58°28′42″N 6°3′47″E / 58.47833°N 6.06306°E | |||
Country | Norway | ||
County | Rogaland | ||
District | Dalane | ||
Administrative centre | Egersund | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor (2007) | Terje Jørgensen Jr. (H) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 432 km2 (167 sq mi) | ||
• Land | 387 km2 (149 sq mi) | ||
Area rank | 228 in Norway | ||
Population (2004) | |||
• Total | 13,388 | ||
• Rank | 78 in Norway | ||
• Density | 35/km2 (90/sq mi) | ||
• Change (10 years) | 5.2 % | ||
Demonym | Eigersunder[1] | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
ISO 3166 code | NO-1101 | ||
Official language form | Bokmål | ||
Website | www.eigersund.kommune.no | ||
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Eigersund is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Egersund landdisstrikt (rural district) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Augne was separated from Eigersund in 1839. Helleland and the town of Egersund were merged with Eigersund on 1 January 1965.
Location
Eigersund extends from the North Sea coast to the border of Vest-Agder. It borders Hå in the north, Sokndal in the south. The municipality is centered on the town Egersund, and includes the island Eigerøya. The landscape includes a lot of rivers and seas, as well as woods. The town itself is mostly industrial. The lakes Eiavatnet and Teksevatnet lie in the municipality.
Amongst the lakes in Eigersund is Grøsfjellvatnet.
General information
Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Eikundarsund. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the island Eikund (now Eigerøya) and the last element is sund which means "strait" or "sound". The first element in the name of the island is eik which means "oak" and the last element is the suffix -und which means "plentiful of" (i.e. "the island covered with oak trees").
The form without the diphthong [ei] (Egersund) is the Danish language form of the name which is still preserved in the name of the town Egersund.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms are relatively modern. They were granted on 20 October 1972. The arms are partly a canting since the name is supposedly derived from Eikundarsund and eik means oak. Oaks are also very common in the municipality. The arms show a yellow oak leaf on a green background.[2]
(See also coat-of-arms of Nedre Eiker, Songdalen, Tingvoll and Øvre Eiker)
History
The place is mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's writings. Later, Christian IV set up a battery there.
Eigerøya
Eigerøya is an island off the coast of Egersund. The island has several well-known businesses and attractions including the Eigerøy war memorial from World War II. The island is connected to the mainland over Eigerøy bridge, which was completed in 1951. The island's coastline is characterized by a number of small bays, as well as Lundarviga. Eigerøya is divided almost in two of the large bay of Lundarviga. The island is surrounded by a number of small islets. Eigerøy Lighthouse is located on a small islet off the southern tip of Eigerøya.
References
- ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- ↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 8 October 2008.
External links
- Media related to Eigersund at Wikimedia Commons
- The dictionary definition of Eigersund at Wiktionary
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
- Rogaland travel guide from Wikivoyage