Jondal

This article is about the municipality in Hordaland, Norway. For the village in that municipality, see Jondal (village).
Jondal kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms

Hordaland within
Norway

Jondal within Hordaland
Coordinates: 60°16′06″N 06°19′45″E / 60.26833°N 6.32917°ECoordinates: 60°16′06″N 06°19′45″E / 60.26833°N 6.32917°E
Country Norway
County Hordaland
District Hardanger
Administrative centre Jondal
Government
  Mayor (2009) Jon Larsgard (Sp)
Area
  Total 247.07 km2 (95.39 sq mi)
  Land 234.92 km2 (90.70 sq mi)
  Water 12.15 km2 (4.69 sq mi)
Area rank 305 in Norway
Population (2014)
  Total 1,094
  Rank 393 in Norway
  Density 5/km2 (10/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) 1.96 %
Demonym Jondøl
Jondøling[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1227
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.jondal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Jondal is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located on the Folgefonna peninsula in the Hardanger district, on the eastern shore of the Hardangerfjorden. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jondal. Other villages in Jondal include Herand, Kysnesstranda, and Torsnes.

General information

Map of Jondal (before 2013)
View of Jondal
Village of Jondal, with the church in the back

The municipality of Jondal was established on 1 January 1863 when it was separated from the large municipality of Strandebarm. Initially, Jondal had a population of 1,663.

On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal mergers in Norway due to the Schei Committee's work. Two changes effected Jondal municipality: the part of Jondal located on the northwestern side of the Hardangerfjorden (population: 515) was transferred to Kvam municipality and the Kysnesstranda area of Strandebarm municipality (population: 100) was transferred to Jondal.[2]

Then on 1 January 2013, the southwestern part of the Folgefonna peninsula (south of Kysnesstranda) was transferred to Jondal from Kvinnherad municipality. This added forty new residents and 37.1 square kilometres (14.3 sq mi) of land area to the municipality.[3]

Name

The municipality is named after the Jondalen valley in which the village of Jondal sits. The Old Norse form of the name was Jónardalr. The first element is an old rivername Jón (now called Jondalselvi) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the rivername is unknown.[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted in 1987. The arms are red with three gold-colored boat hooks. This design was chosen to symbolise the importance of sailing and shipping along the Hardangerfjord. Historically, Jondal has been known for its shipyards and sailing college.[5]

See also: Coats of arms of Åsnes, Fet, Marker, and Nordre Land

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Jondal. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Jondal
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
JondalJondal ChurchJondal1888

Geography

Jondal is located on the southeast side of the Hardangerfjorden on the Folgefonna peninsula. It is bounded by the large Folgefonna glacier to the southeast (inside Folgefonna National Park). The lake Juklavatnet is located on the municipal border with Kvinnherad. The 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) long tunnel runs under the glacier from Jondal to Mauranger in Kvinnherad.

Government

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19511,871    
19601,744−6.8%
19701,268−27.3%
19801,273+0.4%
19901,266−0.5%
20001,151−9.1%
20101,036−10.0%
20141,094+5.6%
Source: Statistics Norway.
Religion in Jondal[6]
religion percent
Church of Norway
 
95.79%

All municipalities in Norway, including Jondal, 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. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Jondal is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Jondal Kommunestyre 2011–2015
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet4
 Conservative PartyHøgre2
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti2
 Centre PartySenterpartiet9
Total number of members:17

Famous residents

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jondal.
  1. "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. Olsen, Kjartan Wang (2011-12-08). "Jondal overtar Kvinnherad-bygder" (in Norwegian). Hardanger folkeblad. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  4. Rygh, Oluf (1919). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (12 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 507.
  5. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  6. Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.
  7. "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011.