Kvinnherad

Infobox_Kommune
name = Kvinnherad
idnumber = 1224

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county = Hordaland
landscape = Sunnhordland
capital = Rosendal
language = Nynorsk
demonym = Kvinnhering


munwebpage = www.kvinnherad.kommune.no
governor = Synnøve Solbakken (Ap)
governor_as_of = 2007
arearank = 90
area = 1135
arealand = 1080
areapercent = 0.35
population_as_of = 2007
populationrank = 80
population = 13,032
populationpercent = 0.29
populationdensity = 12
populationincrease = 0.3
lat_deg = 59 | lat_min = 55 | lat_sec = 41 | lon_deg = 6 | lon_min = 2 | lon_sec = 13
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6647114 | utm_easting = 0334408 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Kvinnherad is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The parish of "Kvindherred" was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Fjelberg, most of Varaldsøy and parts of Skånevik merged with Kvinnherad on 1 January 1965.

The municipality is the 5th in size in Hordaland. The largest village is Husnes, with about 6,000 people living in or near the village.

Kvinnherad is situated in Sunnhordland, southeast of the Hardangerfjord. In the southern part of Kvinnherad you will find the typical fjord landscape of western Norway. The areas of Mauranger and Rosendal are said to have about the most beautiful fjord landscape of Hardanger as a whole: narrow fjords, wild water-falls, and the Folgefonna - the third biggest glacier in Norway.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was "Kvinnaherað". The first element is maybe derived from "tvinnr" which means "double" (referring to the two rivers running through Rosendal, the administration centre of the municipality). The last element is "herað" which means "district" or "municipality". See also|Krødsherad|Sauherad

The municipality name has been spelled several ways. Before 1889, the name was written "Kvindherred", then from 1889-1917 it was "Kvinnherred", and since 1918 it has been spelled "Kvinnherad".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 18 June 1982. The arms symbolize the many streams and rivers in the municipality, especially the Hattebergselvi and the Melselvi, that come together just before they run into the sea at Rosendal. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/k/kvinnher.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=21 September|accessyear=2008]

Economy

Industry

The industry of Kvinnherad is based on the rich water resources within its boundaries. Power production, aluminium production (Sør-Norge Aluminium), sea-farming, shipbuilding (Eidsvik Skipsbyggeri, Hellesøy Verft)and lifeboat production (Umoe Scat Harding, Norsafe, Eide Marine Tech, Noreq) all have water as the main basis of production. These industries are spread throughout the municipality.

Tourism

Rosendal is the main tourist village in the area, and here is also the administration centre of the municipality. The greatest tourist attraction in Kvinnherad is also found here - the Barony Rosendal - the only one of its kind in Norway. The Barony is a museum, which offers valuable information about an important period of Norwegian history - the time of the Union with Denmark.

External links

* http://www.kvinnherad.kommune.no no icon
* http://www.baroniet.uio.no no icon
* [http://www.kvinnheradguiden.no/ Kvinnheradguiden.no] no icon
* [http://www.kvinnheringen.no/ Kvinnheringen.no] no icon
* [http://www.grenda.no/ Grenda.no] no icon
* [http://www.innsida.no/ Innsida.no] no icon
* [http://www.husnes.ungdomsskule.no/ Husnes Ungdomsskule] no icon

References