Tysvær is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Haugalandet region. The municipality is located on the Haugalandet peninsula on the northern side of the Boknafjorden, just east of the towns of Kopervik and Haugesund. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Aksdal. Other villages in the municipality include Dueland, Førre, Grinde, Hervik, Hindaråvåg, Nedstrand, Skjoldastraumen, Susort, Tysvær, and Yrkje.

The municipality is the 230th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Tysvær Municipality is the 100th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.6% over the previous 10-year period.

The European route E39 highway and European route E134 highways traverse the municipality with their junction located at Aksdal. The Frekasund Bridge on the E39 highway connects the mainland of Tysvær Municipality to the islands of Bokn Municipality to the south. The Karmøy Tunnel connects Tysvær Municipality to the town of Kopervik in neighboring Karmøy Municipality.

General information

The municipality of Tysvær was established in 1849 when the large Skjold Municipality was divided. The southern part (population: 2,058) became the new Tysvær Municipality and the northern part (population: 3,439) remained as a smaller Skjold Municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the following areas were merged into a newly enlarged Tysvær Municipality: all of Tysvær Municipality (population: 1,862) all of Nedstrand Municipality (population: 1,200) the Gismarvik, Førre, and Stegaberg areas of Avaldsnes Municipality (population: 994) the Grinde, Dueland, and Yrkje areas of Skjold Municipality (population: 1,133) the Breidal and Stølsvik farms from Vats Municipality (population: 16) the Hapnes and Dokskar farms from Vikedal Municipality (population: 2)

On 1 January 1969, the small Sponevik farm area (population: 6), just north of the village of Skjoldastraumen, was transferred from the neighboring Vindafjord Municipality to Tysvær Municipality.

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tysvær farm () since the first Tysvær Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the old male name . The last element is which means "fjord". Over time, the last element was corrupted to which means "fishing village", but that was not the meaning of the original name.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 3 February 1984. The official blazon is "Azure, a heron argent issuant" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the top of a grey heron. The heron has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The heron was chosen as a symbol for the municipality since there are several large colonies of grey herons in the municipality. "Tysvær herons" is a nickname for the inhabitants of the municipality. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Tysvær Municipality. It is part of the Haugaland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Tysvær MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtFørresfjordenAksdal ChurchAksdal1995Førre ChurchFørre1893NedstrandNedstrand ChurchHindaråvåg1868Skjoldastraumen ChurchSkjoldastraumen1910TysværTysvær ChurchTysvær1852

Geography The municipality lies on the northern shore of the Boknafjorden, with the Skjoldafjorden and Vindafjorden both partially located within the municipality. The island of Borgøyna lies in the middle of the Skjoldafjorden in Tysvær Municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Lammanuten.

The lake Aksdalsvatnet is the largest lake in the municipality. Another notable lake is Stakkastadvatnet, which lies on the Haugesund-Tysvær municipal border. Tysvær has a number of scenic walks including Heggelifjellet and Kvinnesland.

Sveio Municipality (in Vestland county) is located to the north, Vindafjord Municipality is located to the northeast, Suldal Municipality is located to the east, the islands of Stavanger Municipality are located to the south, Bokn Municipality is located to the southwest, Karmøy Municipality is located to the west, and Haugesund Municipality is located to the northwest.

Economy

The Kårstø industrial site is located along the shores of the Boknafjorden in southwestern Tysvær. The site has many natural gas-related facilities including the Kårstø Power Station.

Government Tysvær Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Tysvær Municipality is made up of 29 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors The mayor () of Tysvær Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1849–1849: Peder Christophersen Lien 1850–1851: John Pedersen Aarvig 1852–1853: Rev. Hans Jensen Blom 1854–1854: Thomas Jørgensen Qvindesland 1855–1855: Rev. Hans Jensen Blom 1856–1857: Thomas Jørgensen Qvindesland 1858–1859: Christofer Chr. Hervig 1860–1861: Sjur S. Høivig 1862–1865: Thomas Jørgensen Qvindesland 1866–1866: Lars Eriksen Birk 1867–1868: Jakob Severinsen Odland 1868–1871: Ole O. Melkevig 1872–1873: Sjur V. Elleflaadt 1874–1879: Lars Eriksen Birk 1880–1881: Nils A. Hetland 1882–1883: Christoffer J. Apeland 1884–1887: Lars Eriksen Birk 1888–1891: John Kvinnesland 1892–1895: Peder J. Aarvig 1896–1907: Christoffer Apeland 1908–1913: Kornelius Jørgensen 1913–1921: Tollef Kvinnesland 1922–1922: Johannes Høyland 1923–1925: Berdinius Hervik 1926–1928: Johannes Høyland 1929–1931: Knut C. Rønnevik 1931–1935: Sivert Odland 1935–1942: Knut C. Rønnevik 1942–1945: Ole Hay Hoel (NS) 1945–1947: Knut C. Rønnevik 1947–1951: Tor Eikje 1951–1955: Knut C. Rønnevik 1955–1959: Ånen Susort (KrF) 1959–1963: Elmer Førland (V) 1963–1964: Ånen Susort (KrF) 1964–1967: Lars Mogstad (Sp) 1967–1975: John S. Tveit (KrF) 1975–1979: Andreas Stakkestad (Sp) 1979–1983: Mandrup Hovland (V) 1983–1987: Borghild Yrkje (KrF) 1987–1991: Mandrup Hovland (V) 1991–1999: Borghild Yrkje (KrF) 1999–2007: Reidar Pedersen (Ap) 2007–2015: Harald Stakkestad (H) 2015–2023: Sigmund Lier (Ap) 2023–present: Monika Lindanger (H)

Notable people Cleng Peerson (1783 near Tysvær – 1865), the leader of the first group of Norwegians to emigrate to the United States Anders Andersen Bjelland (1790 in Nedstrand – 1850), a farmer and politician Asbjørn Kloster (1823 in Vestre Bokn – 1876), a social reformer and leader of the Norwegian temperance movement Lars Hertervig (1830 at Borgøy – 1902), a painter of semi-fantastical works of coastal landscapes John S. Tveit (born 1931 in Tysvær), a politician who was mayor of Tysvær Municipality from 1967 to 1971 Nils Olav Fjeldheim (born 1977 in Tysværvåg), a sprint and marathon canoeist who was a bronze medallist in the 2004 Summer Olympics Peder Losnegård (born 1992 in Tysvær) whose stage name is Lido, a hip-hop artist, rapper, producer, and songwriter

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway