Stord

General information

The parish of Stordøen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). IN 1863, the northern district of the municipality (population: 2,313) was separated to become the new municipality of Fitjar. On 15 May 1868, the southern district of Stordøen located on the mainland (population: 900) was separated to form the new municipality of Valestrand. On 1 January 1898, the southern part of the island of Huglo (population: 117) was transferred from the neighboring municipality of Fjelberg to Stord. On 1 January 1970, the small uninhabited part of the island of Stord along the Valvatnavågen that belonged to Bømlo was transferred to Stord municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the large island of Stord (Old Norse: Storð). The name is old and it was (and still is) used in Icelandic literature meaning "ground" or "earth". Before 1889, the name was written "Stordøen".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 June 1987. The arms shows a yellow twig of holly on a red background. The holly was chosen since it is a common tree in the municipality. The designer was Truls Nygaard.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Stord. It is part of the Sunnhordland deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Geography

Stord is located on the southern half of the island of Stord (the northern part is part of Fitjar municipality). The municipality also includes the islands of Huglo Storstøya, Nautøya, and Føyno. The Hardangerfjorden runs along the southern border of the island municipality, separating it from the municipalities of Kvinnherad, Vindafjord, and Sveio. The Langenuen strait runs along the eastern side, separating it from Tysnes municipality. The Stokksundet and Digernessundet straits runs along the western border, separating it from the municipality of Bømlo. The mountain Mehammarsåto is the highest point in the municipality.

History

The battle of Stord was fought on or by this island between the Norwegian king Hakon Haraldsson and the Danish king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, supported by Hakon's brother's sons led by Harald "Greycloak" Eiriksson.

Economy

The 3 largest private employers in Stord municipality are: Kværner Stord AS, Wärtsilä Norway AS and Apply Leirvik AS. Together these three companies employ more than 3000 people.

Aker Stord, situated south of Leirvik on the peninsula of Eldøyane, is the largest yard in Norway. Aker Stord has built the biggest oil production platforms in the world, Gullfaks C and Troll.

Transport

An extensive tunnel and bridge system, the Triangle Link, connected Stord to the mainland on 27 December 2000 and to the neighboring island of Bømlo on 30 April 2001. The bridges involved are the Bømla Bridge and Stord Bridge and the tunnel is the Bømlafjord Tunnel. The airport in Stord is Stord Airport, Sørstokken, is located northwest of Sagvåg on the Sørstokken peninsula. On 10 October 2006, Atlantic Airways Flight 670 skidded off the runway at the airport. Four people died.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Stord, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Stord is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows: