Eigersund

Infobox Kommune
name = Eigersund
idnumber = 1101

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county = Rogaland
landscape = Dalane
capital = Egersund
demonym = Eigersunder
language = Bokmål


munwebpage = www.eigersund.kommune.no
governor = Terje Jørgensen Jr.(H)
governor_as_of = 2007
arearank = 228
area = 432
arealand = 387
areapercent = 0.13
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 78
population = 13,388
populationpercent = 0.29
populationdensity = 35
populationincrease = 5.2
lat_deg = 58 | lat_min = 28 | lat_sec = 42 | lon_deg = 6 | lon_min = 3 | lon_sec = 47
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6485730 | utm_easting = 0328767 | geo_cat = adm2nd

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.

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.

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 "plentyful 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. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/e/eigersun.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=8 October|accessyear=2008]

History

The place is mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's writings. Later, Christian IV set up a battery there.

References