Gulen

Infobox_Kommune
name = Gulen
idnumber = 1411
county = Sogn og Fjordane


landscape = Sogn
capital = Eivindvik
demonym = Guling
language = Nynorsk


munwebpage = www.gulen.kommune.no
governor = Trude Brosvik (KrF)
governor_as_of = 2003
arearank = 184
area = 597
arealand = 575
areapercent = 0.18
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 305
population = 2,462
populationpercent = 0.05
populationdensity = 4
populationincrease = -1.6
lat_deg = 61 | lat_min = 1 | lat_sec = 27 | lon_deg = 5 | lon_min = 7 | lon_sec = 10
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6771696 | utm_easting = 0290365 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Audio|Gulen.ogg|Gulen is a municipality in the southwestern part of Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik.

The municipality of Gulen surrounds the Gulafjorden, which is considered to be the place where Norway's west-coastal Vikings met at the Gulating, a governing body. The area in Gulafjorden called Flolid (just east of the village of Eivindvik) is now a national historic place, where an open air theater and annual summer play commemorates the Vikings who gathered there 1000 years ago to accept Christianity.

General information

Name

The name (Old Norse "Guli") originally belonged to the fjord (now called Gulafjorden). The name is probably derived from the word "gul" which means "(strong) wind". Until 1891 the name of the municipality was "Evenvig" or "Eivindvig" (now written Eivindvik).

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1990). It shows the two stone crosses found near the village of Eivindvik that are believed to be about 1000 years old, erected there after the Vikings who met at the Gulating gathering embraced Christianity.

Background

"Eivindvig" was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The municipality of 1838 was created to be identical to the Eivindvig parish "(prestegjeld)" that included the three sub-parishes "(sokn)" of Eivindvik, Brekke, and Husøy.

The sub-parish of Brekke (population: 898) was separated from the municipality in 1850 to form a municipality of its own, leaving a total of 3,944 residents in Eivindvig.

In 1858, the sub-parish of Husøy (population: 1,384) was separated from Eivindvig to form its own municipality called "Utvær" (renamed Solund in 1923). This left Eivindvig with 3,018 inhabitants.cite web|first=Dag|last=Jukvam|publisher=Statistics Norway|title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen|date=1999|url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf no icon]

On 1 July 1890 the name of Eivindvig municipality was changed to Gulen.

On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Brekke (population: 782) was merged with Gulen. Also on that same date, the island of Losna (population: 40) was transferred from Gulen to Solund.cite web|url=http://www.emigration.no/sff/emigration3.nsf/0/326D0346278A5909C1256F570048962C?OpenDocument|title=Some historical data on the 26 Kommunes|first=Oddvar|last=Natvik|date=09 Feb 2005|accessdaymonth=3 June|accessyear=2008] After these changes, Gulen had a population of 3,250.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three churches within the municipality of Gulen. It is part of the Diocese of Bjørgvin and the Rural Deanery "(Prosti)" of Ytre Sogn.

chools

The roughly 2500 residents live scattered throughout the municipality and are divided into four school districts: Brekke, Eivindvik, Dalsøyra, and Byrknes. [cite web|url=http://www.scandion.no/sognogfjordane/gulen/skular/1.html|title=Skular i Gulen kommune|publisher=Scandion.no|accessdaymonth=3 August|accessyear=2008 no icon]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Gulen, 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 Gulen is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2007–2011, the party breakdown is as follows:cite web|publisher=Statistics Norway|url=http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/00/01/20/kommvalgform_en/tab-2008-01-29-15-en.html|title=Members of the local councils|accessdaymonth=19 June|accessyear=2008|date=2007] Infobox_Kommunestyre
name = Gulen
start = 2007
end = 2011
Total = 21
Arbeiderpartiet = 3
Fremskrittspartiet =
Høyre = 4
Kristelig_Folkeparti = 5
Rød_Valgallianse =
Rødt =
Senterpartiet = 6
Sosialistisk_Venstreparti =
Venstre = 3
Local_Lists = |

Mayor

The mayor "(ordførar)" of a municipality in Norway is usually a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. The mayor of Gulen for the 2007-2011 term is Trude Brosvik of the Christian Democratic Party "(Kristelig folkeparti)".

Geography

Gulen has an area of about 600 km² including about 1500 small islands, islets, and skerries. [cite web|url=http://www.ssb.no/english/municipalities/1411|title=Figures on Gulen Municipality|date=1 January 2008|author=Statistics Norway|accessdaymonth=3 June|accessyear=2008] The mainland is characterized by small valleys and large mountains crossing the landscape.

Gulen is bounded on the north by the Sognefjord and to the south by the Fensfjord with the North Sea to the west of then municipality. Gulen is bordered by the municipalities of Solund and Hyllestad to the north, by Høyanger to the east, and by Austrheim, Lindås, and Masfjorden (all three in Hordaland county) to the south.

The area is a geological region that contains a relatively low nutrition content ground, which characterizes the types of flora. The moors, which are frequently covered with wild purple heather, are the dominating picure of the area. Due to the large quantity of rain in the area there are lots of types of moss and lichen in Gulen. [cite web|url=http://www.scandion.no/sognogfjordane/gulen/1.html|author=Scandion.no|title=Gulen - møtestad for lov og rett|accessdaymonth=3 June|accessyear=2008 no icon] Most of the land in Gulen is very mountainous and inhospitable.

Economy

Historically, Gulen's economy has been centered around farming and fishing. More recently, Gulen has become important because of its close proximity to the Mongstad industrial area which includes many oil refineries operated by StatoilHydro, Shell Oil, and other oil companies. Other factories and industries in Gulen include [http://www.wergeland-halsvik.no/pls/htmldb/f?p=700:1:426633333459433::NO Wergeland-Halsvik] , Baker Oil Tools, [http://www.septik24.no/pub/cms171.html Johnny Birkeland Transport] , and Vest Tank. There are many other small businesses located in Gulen today.

Attractions

Tusenårsstaden (Gulating)

A sculpture park was built in Flolid in Gulen in order to commemorate the fact that the Gulating legislative assembly met regularly on the shores of the Gulafjord for a period of five hundred years. In 1300 the assembly was moved to Bergen. This was where important political issues were discussed and decisions were made. The members of the assembly represented the farmers of Western Norway, and the Gulating is thus related to the representative institutions of today such as the municipal council and the Norwegian Parliament, Storting.

The old assembly was also used as a law court for both civil and criminal cases. The Norwegian sculptor Bård Breivik is responsible for the artistic elements. The park is a work of art in its own right that is used as the setting for outdoor dance and musical performances in beautiful and unique natural surroundings.

ellevåg Wooden Shoe Factory

Wooden shoes were produced in Sellevåg from 1899–1975. The factory was powered by water in the Sellevåg Lake. The wooden shoe factory is still there with all its production equipment in tact. A guided tour with demonstration can be arranged on request.

Trondheim Post-Road

The historic mail route from Bergen and Trondheim, The post-road goes through Fjaler, Hyllestad and Gulen municipalities. Built between 1801 and 1806, it passes over many beautiful stone bridges.cite web |url=http://www.gonorway.no/norway/counties/sogn-and-fjordande/gulen/763b49b968d768f/index.html|author=GoNorway.no|title=Gulen in Sogn og Fjordane|accessdaymonth=3 June|accessyear=2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.gulatinget.no/ Gulatinget: Tusenårsstaden i Sogn og Fjordane no icon]
* [http://www.gulen.kommune.no Gulen Kommune no icon]