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Bjørnafjorden Municipality

Coordinates: 60°11′44″N 5°37′20″E / 60.19547°N 5.62225°E / 60.19547; 5.62225
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Bjørnafjorden Municipality
Bjørnafjorden kommune
Municipality
Location within Vestland
Location within Norway
Coordinates: 60°11′44″N 5°37′20″E / 60.19547°N 5.62225°E / 60.19547; 5.62225
CountryNorway
CountyVestland
DistrictMidhordland
Established1 Jan 2020
 • Preceded byFusa and Os
Administrative centreOsøyro
Government
 • Mayor (2023)Terje Søviknes (FrP)
Area
 • Total
517.40 km2 (199.77 sq mi)
 • Land487.22 km2 (188.12 sq mi)
 • Water30.18 km2 (11.65 sq mi)  5.8%
 • Rank#204 in Norway
Highest elevation
[1]
1,298.86 m (4,261.4 ft)
Population
 (2025)
 • Total
26,342
 • Rank#46 in Norway
 • Density50.9/km2 (132/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +15.9%
DemonymBjørnafjording
Official language
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-4624
WebsiteOfficial website

Bjørnafjorden is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Midhordland region of the county. The administrative centre of Bjørnafjorden is the village of Osøyro. Other villages in the municipality include Eikelandsosen, Fusa, Hagavik, Haljem, Holdhus, Holmefjord, Strandvik, Sundvor, Syfteland, Søre Øyane, Søvik, and Vinnes.[2]

The 517.4-square-kilometre (199.8 sq mi) municipality is the 204th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Bjørnafjorden Municipality is the 46th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 26,342. The municipality's population density is 50.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (132/sq mi) and its population has increased by 15.9% over the previous 10-year period.[3][4]

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when Os Municipality and Fusa Municipality were merged.[2] Historically, these 2 predecessor municipalities were part of the old Hordaland county. On 1 January 2020, the new municipality became a part of the newly-formed Vestland county (after Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties were merged).[5]

Name

The municipality is named after the Bjørnafjorden, a local fjord which is a central geographic feature of the municipality. The first element is bjørn which means "bear". The last element is the definite form of fjord which means "fjord". Thus this is "the bear fjord".[2]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was adopted in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger took effect. The official blazon is "Azure, a boat's bow and two spirals issuant from each side Or". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the bow of a boat and below that are two curved wave shapes. The charge 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 boat and waves symbolize the water and the importance of the sea. The boat is designed to look like an oselvar, a traditional rowing boat made in the area. The curved wave designs also allude to the local rosemaling designs and the local Giant's kettles (geysers) in Koldal. The arms were designed by Johan D. Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[2][6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within Bjørnafjorden Municipality. It is part of the Fana prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Bjørnafjorden Municipality
Parish (sokn) Church name Location of the church Year built
Fusa Fusa Church Fusa 1961
Holdhus Church Holdhus 1726
Hålandsdal Church Eide, east of Holdhus 1890
Strandvik Church Strandvik 1857
Sundvor Church Sundvor 1927
Os Os Church Osøyro 1870
Nore Neset Church Hagavik 2000

Geography

The municipalities is located around the outer Bjørnafjorden, on both sides of the fjord. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,298.86-metre (4,261.4 ft) tall mountain Tveitakvitingen, a tripoint on the borders of Bjørnafjorden Municipality, Samnanger Municipality, and Kvam Municipality.[1] Samnanger Municipality is located to the north, Kvam Municipality is located to the east, Kvinnherad Municipality is located to the southeast, Tysnes Municipality is located to the south, Austevoll Municipality is located to the southwest, and Bergen Municipality is located to the northwest.

Government

Bjørnafjorden 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.[7] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bjørnafjorden Municipality is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Bjørnafjorden kommunestyre 2023–2027 [8]  
Party name (in Nynorsk) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 6
  Progress Party (Framstegspartiet) 13
  Green Party (Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne) 1
  Conservative Party (Høgre) 6
  Industry and Business Party (Industri‑ og Næringspartiet) 3
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 1
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 2
  Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 1
Total number of members:35
Bjørnafjorden kommunestyre 2020–2023 [9]  
Party name (in Nynorsk) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 8
  Progress Party (Framstegspartiet) 12
  Green Party (Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne) 3
  Conservative Party (Høgre) 5
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 1
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 5
  Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) 1
Total number of members:35

Mayors

The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Bjørnafjorden Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:[10]

  • 2020–2023: Trine Lindborg (Ap)
  • 2023–present: Terje Søviknes (FrP)[11]

Notable people

Sport

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Høgaste fjelltopp i kvar kommune" (in norsk). Kartverket. 16 January 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Thorsnæs, Geir; Lauritzen, Per Roger, eds. (6 August 2025). "Bjørnafjorden". Store norske leksikon (in norsk). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  5. ↑ Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (1 August 2025). "Vestland". Store norske leksikon (in norsk). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Grønvigh, Kjetil Osablod (20 February 2019). "Johan D. Eide er mannen bak det nye kommunevåpenet". Midtsiden.no (in norsk). Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in norsk). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  8. ↑ "Kommunestyrevalg 2023 – Vestland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Kommunestyrevalg 2019 – Vestland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  10. ↑ Fiva, Jon H; Sørensen, Rune J.; Vøllo, Reidar, eds. (2024). "Local Candidate Dataset" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "BT: Terje Søviknes (Frp) blir ordfører i Bjørnafjorden". NRK (in norsk). 13 September 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Trine Lindborg er ordførar i Bjørnafjorden kommune – Bjørnafjorden kommune". bjornafjorden.kommune.no. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Olsen, Benjamin Søgnen (6 January 2017). "Merk deg namnet: Boy Pablo" [Name to note: Boy Pablo]. Os og Fusaposten (in norsk nynorsk). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Babylykke for Sverre Lunde Pedersen". aftenposten.no (in norsk bokmål). 10 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
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