Sokndal is the southernmost municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hauge. Other villages in Sokndal include Jøssingfjord, Rekefjord, Sogndalsstranda, and Åna-Sira.

Sogndalsstranda is a picturesque, old fishing village, which may have inspired the municipality in becoming Norway's first member of Cittaslow. The Jøssingfjorden, known for the Altmark Incident, is also located in Sokndal Municipality.

The municipality is the 267th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sokndal Municipality is the 220th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

thumb|left|Village of [[Åna-Sira]]

thumb|left|Village of [[Sogndalsstranda]]

thumb|left|Landscape in Sokndal

The parish of Soggendal (later spelled Sokndal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1845, the small ladested of Sogndal (population: 348) was separated from Sokndal Municipality to become a municipality of its own. This left Sokndal Municipality with 2,819 residents. On 12 December 1868, a small part of Sokndal Municipality (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Eigersund Municipality. On 1 July 1944, the municipality of Sogndal ladested (population: 311) was reincorporated into Sokndal Municipality. In 1947, a small area in Sokndal Municipality (population: 7) was transferred to Eigersund Municipality. On 1 January 1967, the Tjørn farm (population: 10) was transferred from Eigersund Municipality to Sokndal Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Soknedalen valley () since the first Sokndal Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Sókn (now Sokno). That river name is derived from the verb which means "to seek" or "to strive for". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". Thus, the meaning is "the valley with the river which seeks (finds/forces) its way".

Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Soggendal or Sogndal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sokndal.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 8 July 1988. The official blazon is "Or, three pickaxes bendwise sable" (). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a set of three pickaxes with two over one. This design was chosen to symbolize the importance of mining and agriculture in the municipality. The arms were designed by John Digernes from Haugesund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within Sokndal Municipality. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Sokndal Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|-

|rowspan="2"|Sokndal||Sokndal Church||Hauge||1803

|-

|Åna-Sira Church||Åna-Sira||1888

|}

Geography

The municipality is the southernmost in Rogaland county. The North Sea lies to the south and west, the river Sira and the Åna fjord lie to the southeast (separating it from Flekkefjord Municipality in Agder county), Lund Municipality lies to the east and north, and Eigersund Municipality lies to the northwest. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet and Eiavatnet both lie on the northern border of the municipality. The coastline of Sokndal Municipality is fairly smooth, although there are two larger fjords which cut into the municipality: the Rekefjord and Jøssingfjorden. The Lille Presteskjær Lighthouse marks the entrance to the Rekefjord. The southeastern part of the municipality is very rocky and rugged. As part of Magma Geopark, much of the landscape is characteristic and open. It is the site of the large Tellnes mine, a large producer of titanium.

Climate

Economy

thumb|right|Tellnes opencast [[Ilmenite mine]]

At Tellnes, just east of the village of Hauge, there is an ilmenite mine run by Titania AS, supplying 10% of the world production of ilmenite (a type of titanium). It's also the world's largest opencast ilmenite mine.

Government

Sokndal 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 Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Sokndal Municipality is made up of 21 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 Sokndal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

  • 1838–1839: Hans Jakob Jakobsen Aarstad
  • 1840–1843: Peder Andreas Nielsen
  • 1844–1847: Jakob Berntsen Bruun
  • 1848–1851: Rev. Christian Selmer
  • 1852–1853: Tønnes Watland Fredrichsen
  • 1854–1857: Hans Jakob Jakobsen Aarstad
  • 1858–1861: Rev. Magnus Christian Jürgens
  • 1862–1863: Hans Jakob Jakobsen Aarstad
  • 1864–1871: Gabriel Jacobsen Kirsebom
  • 1872–1877: Jørgen Hansen Aarstad
  • 1878–1881: Tønnes Torkelsen Løvaas
  • 1882–1883: Jørgen Hansen Aarstad
  • 1884–1887: Gabriel Gundersen Eia
  • 1888–1891: Jørgen Hansen Aarstad
  • 1892–1898: Gunder Tønnessen Egeland
  • 1899–1901: Jørgen Hansen Aarstad
  • 1902–1907: Anton Jenssen Barstad
  • 1908–1916: Lars Jonassen Line
  • 1917–1919: Olaus Tollaksen Støle
  • 1920–1935: Severin Mellgren (LL)
  • 1935–1937: Elias Barstad (LL)
  • 1937–1941: Severin Mellgren (LL)
  • 1942–1945: Sigfried Lund (NS)
  • 1945–1945: Severin Mellgren (LL)
  • 1946–1951: Håkon B. Mellgren (LL)
  • 1951–1955: Thorleif Brandsberg (V)
  • 1955–1959: Olaus Haneberg (Bp)
  • 1959–1963: Iver Andersen (V)
  • 1963–1967: Håkon B. Mellgren (LL)
  • 1967–1971: Sven Jonsen (V)
  • 1971–1975: Claus Egil Feyling (H)
  • 1975–1979: Harald Ribland (Sp)
  • 1979–1981: Kjell Rek (KrF)
  • 1981–1983: Odd Erling Midtbø (H)
  • 1983–1987: Harald Ribland (Sp)
  • 1987–1991: Randulf Skretting (KrF)
  • 1991–1995: Torleif P. Støle (Ap)
  • 1995–1999: Randulf Skretting (KrF)
  • 1999–2007: Gudmund Nikolai Holmen (Ap)
  • 2007–2011: Dag Sørensen (Ap)
  • 2011–2019: Trond Arne Pedersen (KrF)
  • 2019–2023: Jonas Andersen Sayed (KrF)
  • 2023–present: Bjørn-Inge Mydland (Sp)

Notable people

  • Carl Adolph Dahl (1769 at Aave in Rekefjord – 1819), a Norwegian jurist and politician
  • Hans Reidar Holtermann (1895 in Sokndal - 1966), a military officer who commanded of Hegra Fortress in WWII
  • Rolf Johan Lenschow (1928 in Hauge i Dalane – 2014), a civil engineer and professor in concrete construction
  • Frank Tønnesen (born 1972 in Sokndal), a singer-songwriter and guitarist who goes by the stage name Tønes
  • Anne Tønnessen (born 1974 in Sokndal), a football player and Olympic champion
  • Vibeke Stene (born 1978 in Sokndal), a gothic metal soprano and actress
  • Siri Seglem (born 1983 in Sokndal), a handball player with 23 caps with Norway women

References

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
  • Sokndal
  • A presentation of Sokndal Municipality
  • cittaslow.no
  • Google map satellite views:
  • Hauge i Dalane, also clearly visible is the large rock quarry on both sites of the Rekefjord.
  • The Titania open pit mine (top right) and the Jøssingfjord (bottom left)