Fjell

Due to the opening the Sotra Bridge to the mainland in 1971 and its proximity to the city of Bergen, the population has grown from less than 7,000 to over 23,000, and as of 2008 it has one of the highest population growth rates in Norway. The result is major traffic jams over the bridge every day. A highway that leads to Bergen has reduced the traveling time to only fifteen minutes from the community centre at Straume on Litlesotra to the center of Bergen.

General information

Aerial view of the island of Litlesotra

View of the rugged mountainous landscape of Fjell

The parish of Fjæld was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1964, the islands of Misje and Turøyna (population: 404) were transferred from the municipality of Herdla to the municipality of Fjell. The municipal boundaries have not changes since that time.^[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fjell farm (Old Norse: Fjall), where the first Fjell Church was built. The name is identical with the modern Norwegian word fjell which means "mountain". The oldest form of the name was Undir Fjalli which means "under/below the mountain". Before 1918, the name was written Fjæld or Fjeld.^[3]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms were granted on 27 April 1957. The arms are black and gray with a blue background. They show the geography in the municipality, specifically the sea (shown with gray wavy lines) and the steep mountains (shown with three black triangular shapes). The gray seagull shown above the mountains is a typical bird in the area.^[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Fjell. It is part of the Vesthordland deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

**Churches in Fjell**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Fjell	Fjell Church	Fjell	1874
	Foldnes Church	Foldnes	2001
	Landro Church	Landro	1977

Geography

Fjell is an island municipality located entirely on islands off the coast of the mainland Bergen Peninsula. It covers many islands in a large archipelago that stretches from Sund in the south to Fedje in the north. The largest island in Fjell is Sotra, although only the northern half of the island is part of Fjell. The second-largest island is Litlesotra, where the largest village area in Fjell is located (the village of Straume). The small island of Bildøyna lies between those two islands. The small island of Geitung lies north of Bildøyna and the small island of Bjorøy lies to the south. Bjorøy is not connected to Fjell by road, but there is the undersea Bjorøy Tunnel that connects it to the city of Bergen. On the western side of Sotra, the smaller islands of Algrøyna, Lokøyna, and Syltøyna are located. On the north end of Sotra lies the small islands of Misje and Turøyna.^[5]

History

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1951	5,172	—
1960	5,453	+5.4%
1970	6,798	+24.7%
1980	10,177	+49.7%
1990	14,735	+44.8%
2000	18,178	+23.4%
2010	21,909	+20.5%
2014	23,852	+8.9%
Source: Statistics Norway.

Fjell is the location of Fjell Fortress, a World War II German mountaintop fortification designed to command all water approaches to the port of Bergen.^[5]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Fjell, 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 Fjell is made up of 45 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:^[6]

*Fjell Kommunestyre 2011–2015*
Party Name		Name in Norwegian	Number of representatives
	Labour Party	Arbeiderpartiet	10
	Progress Party	Framstegspartiet	8
	Conservative Party	Høgre	13
	Christian Democratic Party	Kristelig Folkeparti	4
	Centre Party	Senterpartiet	1
	Socialist Left Party	Sosialistisk Venstreparti	1
	Liberal Party	Venstre	2
	Local Lists	Lokale lister	6
Total number of members:			45

References

↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 268.
↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
1 2 Store norske leksikon. "Fjell – kommune" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2014-12-09.
↑ "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fjell.

Municipality web site (Norwegian)

Municipalities of Hordaland

Nordhordland	Austrheim Fedje Lindås Masfjorden Meland Modalen Osterøy Radøy Vaksdal

Voss	Voss

Hardanger	Eidfjord Granvin Jondal Kvam Odda Ullensvang Ulvik

Midthordland	Askøy Austevoll Bergen Fjell Fusa Os Øygarden Samnanger Sund

Sunnhordland	Bømlo Etne Fitjar Kvinnherad Stord Sveio Tysnes

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