Tysvær

This article is about the municipality in Norway. For the village within this municipality, see Tysværvåg.
Tysvær kommune
Municipality

View of the lake Aksdalsvatnet

Coat of arms
Rogaland within
Norway

Tysvær within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°21′42″N 05°32′34″E / 59.36167°N 5.54278°E / 59.36167; 5.54278Coordinates: 59°21′42″N 05°32′34″E / 59.36167°N 5.54278°E / 59.36167; 5.54278
Country Norway
County Rogaland
District Haugaland
Administrative centre Aksdal
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Harald Stakkestad (H)
Area
 • Total 425.40 km2 (164.25 sq mi)
 • Land 399.71 km2 (154.33 sq mi)
 • Water 25.69 km2 (9.92 sq mi)
Area rank 233 in Norway
Population (2015)
 • Total 10,857
 • Rank 105 in Norway
 • Density 27.2/km2 (70/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 15.9 %
Demonym(s) Tysværbu[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1146
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.tysver.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

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 Yrke.

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

General information

Aerial view of western Tysvær
Painting called Fra Borgøya by Lars Hertervig
View of Aksdal Church

The municipality of Tysvær was established in 1849 when it was separated from the large municipality of Skjold. Initially, the municipality had a population of 2,058. On 1 January 1965, there was a major municipal merger which took place as the result of recommendations by the Schei Committee. The municipality of Tysvær was merged with the municipality of Nedstrand and parts of the municipalities of Avaldsnes, Skjold, Vats, and Vikedal. 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.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tysvær farm (Old Norse: Teitsfjörðr), since the first Tysvær Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the old male name Teitr and the last element is fjörðr which means "fjord".[3]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is from modern times; they were granted on 3 February 1984. The arms show a silver heron on a blue background. The heron was chosen as a symbol for the municipality since there are several large colonies of herons in the municipality.[4]

Churches

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

Churches in Tysvær
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
FørresfjordenAksdal ChurchAksdal1995
Førre ChurchFørre1893
NedstrandNedstrand ChurchHindaråvåg1868
Skjoldastraumen ChurchSkjoldastraumen1910
TysværTysvær ChurchTysværvåg1852

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 Borgøy lies in the middle of the Skjoldafjorden in Tysvær.

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, the source of the name Kvindesland.

Economy

View of Kårstø

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

All municipalities in Norway, including Tysvær, 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 Tysvær is made up of 29 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[5]

Tysvær Kommunestyre 2011–2015
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet7
 Progress PartyFramstegspartiet4
 Conservative PartyHøgre9
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti4
 Centre PartySenterpartiet3
 Liberal PartyVenstre2
Total number of members:29

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 421.
  4. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  5. ↑ "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011.
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