Suldal

General information

The parish of Suledal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1842, the northern district of the municipality (population: 1,584) was separated to become the new municipality of Søvde. This left Suldal with 2,030 residents. On 1 January 1965, the municipality was greatly expanded due to recommendations of the Schei Committee. Suldal (population: 1,412) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Sand (population: 1,135) and Erfjord (population: 610) as well as all of the municipality of Jelsa except for the parts on the island of Ombo (population: 928) and the parts of Imsland municipality located south of the Vindafjorden (population: 61). On 1 January 1978, the parts of Vikedal municipality located southeast of the Vindafjorden on the Ropeid peninsula (population: 13) was transferred to Suldal.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Súladalr. The first element is probably the plural genitive case of súla which means "pillar" or "column" (and then referring to the mountain pass Suldalsporten) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Before 1891, the name was written "Suledal".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 11 March 1976. The arms show three wavy, yellow lines in bend on a red background. The lines represent the local river Suldalslågen which runs through the municipality.

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Suldal. It is part of the Ryfylke deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.

History

The area that is now Suldal municipality has a long history of trade connections to the nearby valley regions to the north and east. The main mountain plateau trade route led east from Suldal municipality over the plateau to the nearby Setesdal valley in Bykle municipality in Aust-Agder county. Another route led north from Suldal in Rogaland county through the Røldal area in Hordaland county, and then east into Vinje municipality in Telemark county. There has also been found viking artefacts and graves in Suldal.

Geography

At 1,736 square kilometres (670 sq mi), Suldal is the largest municipality in Rogaland county. The municipality borders three counties: Hordaland (north), Telemark (northeast), and Aust-Agder (east). To the north, Suldal is bordered by Sauda and Odda municipalities, in the east by Vinje and Bykle, in the south by Hjelmeland, and in the west by Vindafjord. Across the Jelsafjorden and Vindafjorden lie the municipalities of Finnøy and Tysvær.

The mountain Kistenuten is located at the triple border point of Rogaland, Hordaland and Telemark. Other mountains in Suldal are Vassdalseggi, the highest mountain in Rogaland, Trollaskeinuten, Snønuten, Mælen, Knoda, Fitjanuten, Leirnuten, Kaldafjellet, Simlenuten, Steinkilenuten, and Raudberga, all reaching above 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) m.a.s.l.

The Sandsfjorden and Hylsfjorden lie within Suldal, as does lake Suldalsvatnet. The Saudafjorden lies partially within the boundary of Suldal. The Erfjorden and the lakes Blåsjø, Holmavatnet, and Holmevatnet also lie on the boundary of Suldal.

Economy

The Ulla-Førre project of building huge hydroelectric dams in the mountains was initiated in the 1960s. At times, the project employed over a thousand people. The finished hydroelectric complex has a total capacity of approximately 2,100 megawatts (2,800,000 hp) and produces about 4.8 terawatt-hours (17 PJ) yearly.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Suldal, 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 Suldal is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows: