Forsand

Forsand kommune
—  Municipality  —
Lysebotn, located at the head of the Lysefjord
Coat of arms Rogaland within Norway
Forsand within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°0′N 6°30′E / 59°N 6.5°E / 59; 6.5Coordinates: 59°0′N 6°30′E / 59°N 6.5°E / 59; 6.5
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Ryfylke
Administrative centre	Forsand
Government
– Mayor (2008)	Ole Tom Guse (KrF)
Area
– Total	842 km2 (325.1 sq mi)
– Land	702 km2 (271 sq mi)
Area rank	139 in Norway
Population (2004)
– Total	1,069
– Rank	403 in Norway
– Density	2/km2 (5.2/sq mi)
– Change (10 years)	3.3 %
Demonym	Forsandbu[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1129
Official language form	Nynorsk
Website	www.forsand.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Forsand is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Forsand was separated from Høle on 1 January 1871. In 1999, evidence of a population here dating back to around 7500 BC was located.

Forsand is located within the constraints of two fjords, Lysefjord and Høgsfjord. It is one of largest municipalities within the county of Rogaland in terms of area, and one of the smallest in terms of population. Forsand municipality covers 842 km² and has a population of 1,116 (2008).^[2]

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Forsand farm (Old Norse: Forsandr), since the first church was built there. The first element is the prefix for which means "outsticking" and the last element is sandr which means "sand" or "sandy beach". Before 1918, the name was written "Fossan".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 March 1988. The arms show a silver heron on a green background. They were designed by John Digernes.^[3]

See also: Coat-of-arms of Tysvær.

Villages

Villages that are part of the municipality:

• Forsand 58°54′0″N 6°5′30″E / 58.9°N 6.09167°E / 58.9; 6.09167 (Forsand)
• Fløyrli at 59°1′0″N 6°26′0″E / 59.016667°N 6.433333°E / 59.016667; 6.433333 (Fløyrli)
• Kolabygda at 58°56′33″N 6°1′15″E / 58.9425°N 6.02083°E / 58.9425; 6.02083 (Kolabygda)
• Lysebotn, located in the end of the Lysefjord, at 59°3′16″N 6°38′52″E / 59.05444°N 6.64778°E / 59.05444; 6.64778 (Lysebotn)
• Øvre Espedal at 58°55′3″N 6°16′17″E / 58.9175°N 6.27139°E / 58.9175; 6.27139 (Øvre Espedal)

Panoramic view over the village Lysebotn located innermost in the Lysefjord (full image)

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ "Figures on Forsand Municipality". Statistisk sentralbyrå. 2008. http://www.ssb.no/english/municipalities/1129. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
3. ^ "Kommunevåpen". 2006. http://www.forsand.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?AId=331&back=1&MId1=7&MId2=36&MId3=209. Retrieved 2008-10-08.  (Norwegian)

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Rogaland travel guide from Wikitravel
• http://www.ryfylke.com