Eigersund

Eigersund kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Rogaland within
Norway

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 (2014) Leif Erik Egaas (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
Data from Statistics Norway

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 and Bjerkreim to 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 lakes, as well as woods and more barren rocky and heatherclad moors. Egersund is the only town within Eigersund, and its administrative centre. The town is known for its Pottery (closed in 1979), and is also amongst Norway's biggest fishing ports. 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.

Eigerøy Lighthouse

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

  1. ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 8 October 2008.

External links