Granvin

Infobox_Kommune
name = Granvin
herad = yes
idnumber = 1234


county = Hordaland
landscape = Hardanger
capital = Granvin
language = Nynorsk
demonym = Gravensar


munwebpage = www.granvin.kommune.no
governor = Jan Ivar Rødland (Ap)
governor_as_of = 2007
arearank = 325
area = 213
arealand = 205
areapercent = 0.07
population_as_of = 2008
populationrank = 406
population = 964
populationpercent = 0.02
populationdensity = 4.7
populationincrease = -7.4
lat_deg = 60 | lat_min = 33 | lat_sec = 37 | lon_deg = 6 | lon_min = 43 | lon_sec = 10
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6716006 | utm_easting = 0374982 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Granvin is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The population is 964. About half of these, 444 people, live in the village of Granvin, situated at the end of a side arm of the Hardangerfjord.Cite web|url=http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/01/10/beftett_en/tab-2008-06-20-01-en.html|title=Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality. 1 January 2008|accessdate=2008-09-22|publisher=Statistics Norway|language=Norwegian]

General information

Name

There are several theories for the origin of the name Granvin. One of them claims that it is named after the farm Granvin (Old Norse: "Granvin"), since the first church was built there. The first element is "gran" which means "spruce", the last element is "vin" which means "meadow" or "pasture".cite book|title=Kulturhistorisk Vegbok Hordaland|last=Brekke|first=Nils Georg|coauthors=Skaar, Ronny B. and Nord, Svein|date=1993|publisher=Nord4] Another possible meaning of the name is "gran" (Old Norse: grand) which means "large/big" or "long" and the word "vin" which is Old Norse for "large plain". (This is also seen in the name the Vikings gave to America when they first arrived there, "Vinland": "land of large plains".)

Until 1899, the name was written "Graven" because of the Danish language still used in much of Norway since the union with Denmark.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 13 May 1988. The arms show a hardanger-fiddle "(Hardingfele)", which is a Norwegian folk instrument. Granvin is situated in the Hardanger region, and has an active folk-music tradition. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/g/granvin.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=21 September|accessyear=2008] See also2|Coat of Arms of Bø

History

The parish of "Graven" was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt), which also included two annexes, Ulvik and Eidfjord. In 1858, Ulvik became the main parish, so that Granvin and Eidfjord became annexes to Ulvik, and the name of municipality was changed accordingly. Granvin and Eidfjord were separated from Ulvik as municipalities of their own on 1 May 1891.

In April 1940, during the German invasion of Norway during World War II, there was some fighting between German and Norwegian forces in Granvin. German forces landed in the village of Granvin and advanced along the road towards Voss. They were halted for a brief time at "Skjervefossen", but quickly broke down the Norwegian defence.

The population of Granvin has been dropping in recent years. In 1951, the population was 1158. Since then, it has dropped by 16,8 % to 964 in 2008. This development is common in many smaller, rural municipalities in Norway.Cite web|url=http://www.ssb.no/folkendrhist_en/tables/tab/1234.html|title=Population changes in municipalities 1951-2008. Granvin.|accessdate=2008-09-22|publisher=Statistics Norway|language=Norwegian]

References