Vestland is a county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County Governor is based in Hermansverk. Vestland is one of two counties in Norway that have Nynorsk as their official written language form.
Vestland was created on 1 January 2020, when the former counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane were merged.
History Vestland county is a newly created county, but it has been inhabited for millennia. The area was made up of many petty kingdoms under the Gulating during the Middle Ages. The northern part was then known as Firdafylke (now the Fjordane region; Nordfjord-Sunnfjord), the central area was known as Sygnafylke (now the Sogn region), and the southern part was known as Hordafylke.
In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into four len. The Bergenhus len was headquartered in Bergen and encompassed much of western and northern Norway including Firdafylke, Sygnafylke, Hordafylke, and Sunnmørafylke (in the present day Møre og Romsdal county). The new Bergenhus len was administered from the Bergenhus Fortress in the city of Bergen.
In 1662, the lens were replaced by amts. On 19 February 1662, a royal decree changed the name to Bergenhus amt. The new Bergenhus amt originally consisted of the present-day areas of Vestland and the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal, plus the far northern Nordlandene amt was subordinate to Bergenhus amt. The Sunnmøre region was transferred to Romsdalen amt in 1689 and the Nordlandene amt was separated around that time as well.
In 1763, the amt was divided into northern and southern parts: Nordre Bergenhus amt and Søndre Bergenhus amt. When the amt was split, the present day Gulen Municipality was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt. In 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part.
On 1 January 1919, Nordre Bergenhus amt was renamed Sogn og Fjordane fylke and Søndre Bergenhus amt was renamed Hordaland fylke during a period of time when many location names in Norway were changed.
The city of Bergen was removed from the Bergenhus amt in 1831 and it was classified as a city-county (byamt) from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915, Årstad Municipality was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring Arna Municipality, Fana Municipality, Laksevåg Municipality and Åsane Municipality were annexed into the city of Bergen to create a large Bergen Municipality. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county once again.
On 1 January 2020, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties were merged back together once again, forming Vestland county.
Geography
Vestland is located on the western coast of Norway. It is split up by several long, deep fjords including the Nordfjorden, Sognefjorden, and Hardangerfjorden, some of Norway's most notable fjords and great tourist attractions. About half of the Hardangervidda National Park is in the county. It also includes the Jostedal, Folgefonna, and Hardangerjøkulen glaciers. The county also includes many well-known waterfalls, such as Vøringsfossen, Brudesløret and Stykkjedalsfossen. Ramnefjellsfossen (previously called Utigardfossen) is the tallest in Norway and third tallest in the world and Vettisfossen is one of Norway's highest waterfalls with a vertical drop of . Both are located in the Jotunheimen mountains.
Outside of the Bergen metropolitan area, the county is mostly a rural area with a scattered population. Cruise ships visit Vestland all summer because of the unique vistas of high mountains and deep blue fjords. The famous Nærøyfjord is located in the central part of the county. This is a UNESCO listed fjord area. There are several archipelagos, including Øygarden, Austevoll, Bulandet, Bremangerlandet, and Kinn. The westernmost point in Norway proper is Holmebåen in Solund municipality. The island of Unst, part of Shetland Islands is around west of Holmebåen.
The terrain changes quite rapidly with mostly smaller mountains on the coastline, gradually increasing to mountains reaching more than . Because of the steep rise in elevation and fjords cutting through the terrain, the amount of precipitation is very high. Low pressure systems come in from the west and meet the mountains (a phenomenon known as orographic lifting) and cause rain and snowfall.
Government
The Vestland County Municipality is the elected administration of the county. It is led by the county council () of 65 members. Heading the county council is the county mayor (). Since 2020, the county mayor of Vestland County Municipality has been Jon Askeland.
The county also has a county governor () who is the representative of the King and Government of Norway. Lars Sponheim is the current County Governor of Vestland and this office is based in Hermansverk.
The municipalities in Vestland are divided among several district courts (): Nordhordland District Court, Sunnhordland District Court, Bergen District Court, Hardanger District Court, and Sogn og Fjordane District Court. All of these courts are subordinate to the Gulating Court of Appeal district based in Bergen.
Vestland is not an electoral district for elections to the Storting, as Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane remain as separate districts.
Media gallery
Municipalities Vestland County has a total of 43 municipalities:List of Norwegian municipality numbers
MunicipalNumber Name Adm. Centre Location inthe county Established Old Municipal No.(before 2020) Former County(before 2020) 4601 Bergen Municipality Bergen 1 Jan 1972 1201 Bergen Hordaland 4602 Kinn Municipality Florø 1 Jan 2020 1401 Flora1439 Vågsøy (part) Sogn og Fjordane 4611 Etne Municipality Etnesjøen 1 Jan 1838 1211 Etne Hordaland 4612 Sveio Municipality Sveio 1 Jan 1865 1216 Sveio 4613 Bømlo Municipality Svortland 1 Jan 1916 1219 Bømlo 4614 Stord Municipality Leirvik 1 Jan 1838 1221 Stord 4615 Fitjar Municipality Fitjar 1 Jan 1863 1222 Fitjar 4616 Tysnes Municipality Uggdal 1 Jan 1838 1223 Tysnes 4617 Kvinnherad Municipality Rosendal 1 Jan 1838 1224 Kvinnherad 4618 Ullensvang Municipality Odda 1 Jan 1838 1227 Jondal1228 Odda1230 Ullensvang 4619 Eidfjord Municipality Eidfjord 1 Jan 1977 1232 Eidfjord 4620 Ulvik Municipality Ulvik 1 Jan 1838 1233 Ulvik 4621 Voss Municipality Vossevangen 1 Jan 1838 1234 Granvin1235 Voss 4622 Kvam Municipality Norheimsund 1 Jan 1838 1238 Kvam 4623 Samnanger Municipality Tysse 1 Jan 1907 1242 Samnanger 4624 Bjørnafjorden Municipality Osøyro 1 Jan 2020 1241 Fusa1243 Os 4625 Austevoll Municipality Storebø 1 Jan 1886 1244 Austevoll 4626 Øygarden Municipality Straume 1 Jan 1964 1245 Sund1246 Fjell1259 Øygarden 4627 Askøy Municipality Kleppestø 1 Jan 1838 1247 Askøy 4628 Vaksdal Municipality Dale 1 Jan 1964 1251 Vaksdal 4629 Modalen Municipality Mo 1 Jan 1910 1252 Modalen 4630 Osterøy Municipality Lonevåg 1 Jan 1964 1253 Osterøy 4631 Alver Knarvik 1 Jan 2020 1256 Meland1260 Radøy1263 Lindås 4632 Austrheim Municipality Årås 1 Jan 1910 1264 Austrheim 4633 Fedje Municipality Fedje 1 Jan 1947 1265 Fedje 4634 Masfjorden Municipality Masfjordnes 1 Mar 1879 1266 Masfjorden 4635 Gulen Municipality Eivindvik 1 Jan 1838 1411 Gulen Sogn og Fjordane 4636 Solund Municipality Hardbakke 1 Jan 1858 1412 Solund 4637 Hyllestad Municipality Hyllestad 1 Jan 1862 1413 Hyllestad 4638 Høyanger Municipality Høyanger 1 Jan 1964 1416 Høyanger 4639 Vik Municipality Vikøyri 1 Jan 1838 1417 Vik 4640 Sogndal Municipality Hermansverk 1 Jan 1838 1418 Balestrand1419 Leikanger1420 Sogndal 4641 Aurland Municipality Aurlandsvangen 1 Jan 1838 1421 Aurland 4642 Lærdal Municipality Lærdalsøyri 1 Jan 1838 1422 Lærdal 4643 Årdal Municipality Årdalstangen 1 Jan 1863 1424 Årdal 4644 Luster Municipality Gaupne 1 Jan 1838 1426 Luster 4645 Askvoll Municipality Askvoll 1 Jan 1838 1428 Askvoll 4646 Fjaler Municipality Dale 1 Jan 1838 1429 Fjaler 4647 Sunnfjord Municipality Førde 1 Jan 2020 1430 Gaular1431 Jølster1432 Førde1433 Naustdal 4648 Bremanger Municipality Svelgen 1 Jan 1866 1438 Bremanger 4649 Stad Municipality Nordfjordeid 1 Jan 2020 1439 Vågsøy (part)1441 Selje1443 Eid 4650 Gloppen Municipality Sandane 1 Jan 1838 1445 Gloppen 4651 Stryn Municipality Stryn 1 Jan 1843 1449 Stryn
See also List of villages in Vestland List of churches in Bjørgvin Søråsen
Explanatory notes
References