View of the Kjeåsen mountain farmView of Vøringfossen and Måbødalen
Eidfjord is situated at the end of the Eid Fjord, an inner branch of the large Hardangerfjorden. The village of Eidfjord is a major cruise ship port of call. Eidfjord has several tourist sites, like the Sima Power Plant which is built into the mountain itself, the Måbødalen valley, and the Vøringsfossen waterfall which has a free fall of 182 metres (597 ft). Large parts of the Hardangervidda (Europe's largest mountain plateau) are located in Eidfjord. The Hardangervidda Natursenter, a visitors centre and museum for Hardangervidda National Park, is located in Øvre Eidfjord.
The 1,498-square-kilometre (578 sq mi) municipality is the 57th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eidfjord is the 337th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 962. The municipality's population density is 0.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.8/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Ullensvang og Eidfjord be closed.[6]
General information
View overlooking the village of EidfjordView of a hotel in Eidfjord villageOld Eidfjord ChurchThe Fjords within.
The parish of Graven (later spelled "Granvin") was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). This large municipality/parish included two annexes: Ulvik and Eidfjord. On 1 January 1859, Ulvik became the main parish, making Granvin and Eidfjord annexes to Ulvik, and the name of the large municipality was changed from Graven to Ulvik.[7]
On 1 May 1891, the municipality of Ulvik was divided into three separate municipalities: the western part became Graven Municipality (population: 1,331) and the southeastern part became the new Eidfjord Municipality (population: 1,018). This left a much smaller Ulvik Municipality in between the two new municipalities. In 1895, a small part of Eidfjord (population: 3) was transferred back to Ulvik Municipality.[7]
Eidfjord existed as a municipality from 1891 until 1964 when a major municipal merger took place as a result of municipal reform in Norway due to the Schei Committee. Eidfjord Municipality (population: 983), most Kinsarvik Municipality (population: 1,513), and Ullensvang Municipality (population: 2,358) were all merged into one large Ullensvang Municipality. This merger was not well-liked by the population of Eidsfjord, and so on 1 January 1977, part of the merger was undone, and the area of the "old" Eidfjord Municipality (population: 1,223) was separated to form its own municipality once again.[8][7]
On 1 January 2022, the roughly 7-square-kilometre (2.7 sq mi) Ytre Bu area of Ullensvang Municipality (population: 24) was transferred to the neighboring Eidfjord Municipality.[9][10]
Name
The municipality (originally the annex parish) is named after the Eid Fjord (Old Norse: Eiðafjörðr) since the first Eidfjord Church was built there. The first element comes from the old Eid farm (Old Norse: Eiðar). The name of the farm derives from the word eið which means "isthmus", referring to the land between the fjord and the lake Eidfjordvatnet. The last element is fjörðr which means "fjord".[8][11]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 13 July 1984. The official blazon is "Azure, a reindeer antler argent" (Norwegian: På blå grunn eit kvitt reinsdyrgevir). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a reindeerantler. The antler 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 reindeer antler was chosen because the first known settlers of the area were reindeer hunters. The reindeer has been important for the population in the Hardangervidda area for many centuries. The antler also symbolizes the rivers that run from the mountain into the fjord. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[12][13][14]
Eidfjord Municipality begins at sea level along the fjord, the valleys leading away from the fjord are surrounded by high mountains which lead up to the alpine plateau called Hardangervidda. The Måbødalen valley is a narrow valley that leads upland to the Vøringfossen waterfall. There are several lakes in Eidfjord including Eidfjordvatnet, Nordmannslågen, and Sysenvatnet. The lakes Halnefjorden, Skaupsjøen, and Tinnhølen are all partially located in Eidfjord. The Hardangerjøkulenglacier is partially located in northern Eidfjord.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Eidfjord is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
