- Bjerkreim
Infobox Kommune
name = Bjerkreim
idnumber = 1114
county = Rogaland
landscape = Dalane
capital =Vikeså
demonym = Bjerkreimsbu
language = Neutral, but the schools and churches use Nynorsk
munwebpage = www.bjerkreim.kommune.no
governor = Asbjørn Ramsli (Sp)
governor_as_of = 2005
arearank = 170
area = 650
arealand = 577
areapercent = 0.20
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 306
population = 2,461
populationpercent = 0.05
populationdensity = 4
populationincrease = 1.0
lat_deg = 58 | lat_min = 39 | lat_sec = 25 | lon_deg = 6 | lon_min = 8| lon_sec = 48
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6505393 | utm_easting = 0334476 | geo_cat = adm2ndBjerkreim is a municipality in the
Rogaland county,Norway . The parish of "Birkrem" was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (seeformannskapsdistrikt ).Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city,
Stavanger . With proximity to nature andwildlife , and lakes such asByrkjelandsvatnet , the two and a half thousand inhabitants in Bjerkreim have a total area of 585 km² at their disposal, which includes one of the most importantsalmon rivers in Norway, "Bjerkreimselva". The most important livelihoods areagriculture and small-scale industries.General information
Name
The municipality (originally the
parish ) is named after the old "Bjerkreim" farm (Old Norse : "Bjarkarheimr"), since the first church was built there. The first element is thegenitive case of "björk" which means "birch " and the last element is "heim r" which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 July 1986. The arms are canting, showing a
birch branch, since the name of the municipality is derived from the word for birch, "bjørke". [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/b/bjerkrei.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=8 October|accessyear=2008]Government
Bjerkreim local council is the authority's highest political committee and has 17 representatives. The executive committee has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economical committee. The mayor leads both the local council and the executive committee. In addition there are 2 different sector committees. A notable local politician is
Olaf Gjedrem , mayor from 1979 to 1993 and later a member of the national parliament.The municipality has 2 primary schools and 2 kindergartens.
Transportation
The main means of transportation is via the E39 highway which passes through the municipality.
The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport,
Stavanger airport inSola , is approximately 40 minutes by car.References
External links
* [http://www.bjerkreimselva.no/eng/index.htm The River Bjerkreim (Bjerkreimselva)]
* [http://www.reisemal-sydvest.no/english/index.htm Visit the South region of Rogaland (Reisemaal Soer Vest)]
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