Forsand is a
municipality|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
in
Rogalandis a county in Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum-industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%.-Etymology:...
county||-|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. Forsand was separated from
HøleHøle is a village and former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway.The municipality was separated from Strand as Høgsfjord formannskapsdistrikt in 1842. On 1 January 1871 the district Forsand was divided from Høgsfjord to form a municipality of its own...
on 1 January 1871. In 1999, evidence of a population here dating back to around 7500 BC was located.
Forsand is located within the constraints of two
fjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:Fjords are formed when a glacier cuts a v-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age...
s,
LysefjordLysefjord is a fjord located in Forsand in south-western Norway...
and
Høgsfjordthumb|Høgsfjord near [[Dirdal]].thumb|Ferry MF Høgsfjord- Fjord :Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. The fjord starts near Idse in Strand and ends near Frafjord in Gjesdal. The Lysefjord branches off from the Høgsfjord near the village Forsand...
. It is one of largest municipalities within the county of Rogaland in terms of area, and one of the smallest in terms of population. Forsand municipality covers 842 km² and has a population of 1,116 (2008).
Name
The municipality (originally the
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
) is named after the old
Forsand farm (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
:
Forsandr), since the first church was built there. The first element is the
prefixA prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of Semitic languages, a prefix is called a preformative, as they can alter the form of the words to which they are fixed.Examples of prefixes:...
for which means "outsticking" and the last element is
sandr which means "
sandSand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain...
" or "sandy
beachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, or cobblestones...
". Before 1918, the name was written
"Fossan".
Coat-of-arms
The
coat-of-armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
is from modern times. They were granted on 11 March 1988. The arms show a silver
heronThe herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons....
on a green background. They were designed by John Digernes.
Villages
Villages that are part of the municipality:
- Forsand
- Fløyrli at
- Kolabygda at
- Lysebotn
Lysebotn is a village of the municipality of Forsand at the Lysefjord in Rogaland county in the southwest of Norway.Nearby is the road Lysebotnvegen.-External links:*...
, located in the end of the LysefjordLysefjord is a fjord located in Forsand in south-western Norway...
, at
- Øvre Espedal at
External links