Etne

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Etne kommune
Municipality
View of the lake Løkjelsvatnet in Etne
View of the lake Løkjelsvatnet in Etne
Coat of arms of Etne kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Etne kommune
Hordaland within
Norway
File:NO 1211 Etne.svg
Etne within Hordaland
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Country Norway
County Hordaland
District Sunnhordland
Administrative centre Etnesjøen
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Sigve Sørheim (Sp)
Area
 • Total 735.27 km2 (283.89 sq mi)
 • Land 692.37 km2 (267.33 sq mi)
 • Water 42.90 km2 (16.56 sq mi)
Area rank 148 in Norway
Population (2015)
 • Total 4,103
 • Rank 231 in Norway
 • Density 5.9/km2 (15/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 5.1 %
Demonym(s) Etnebu
Etnesbu[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1211
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.etne.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Etne is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland, although it is also sometimes considered to be part of the district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Etnesjøen. Other villages in the municipality include Skånevik and Fjæra. The two largest villages in the municipality are Etnesjøen with 1,159 residents and Skånevik with 594 residents (all figures from 1 January 2015).[2][3]

Etne is situated south of the city of Bergen and it borders the municipalities of Kvinnherad, Odda, Sauda, Suldal, and Vindafjord, the three latter in the county of Rogaland.

A Norwegian motion picture called United was shot in Etne with local people as actors.

General information

File:Etne map.jpg
Map of Etne
File:Simlebu.jpg
Mountain cabins
File:Mosnes Etne.jpg
Village of Mosnes

Etne was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Originally, Etne encompassed the area around the Etnefjorden and the surrounding valleys. On 1 January 1965, the neighboring municipality of Skånevik was dissolved and merged into its neighboring municipalities due to the recommendations of the Schei Committee. All of Skånevik located south of the Åkrafjorden and east of the village of Åkra on the north side of the fjord (population: 1,493) was merged into Etne.[4]

Name

The municipality is named after the Etnefjorden (Old Norse: Eðni). The fjord is probably named after an old river name Etna (now called the "Etneelvi").[5] <templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms was granted on 16 December 1983. The arms are blue on the left and silver/white on the right with a dovetailed line vertically down the middle. They represent the strong unity between the two former municipalities of Skånevik and Etne that were joined together to form one municipality in 1965.[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Etne. It is part of the Sunnhordland deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Etne
Parish (Sokn) Church Name Location of the Church Year Built
Etne Gjerde Church Etnesjøen 1676
Grindheim Church Etnesjøen 1728
Stødle Church Etnesjøen 1160
Skånevik Skånevik Church Skånevik 1900
Fjæra Chapel Fjæra 1913

Geography

Etne is situated south of the city of Bergen and it borders the municipalities of Kvinnherad and Odda in Hordaland county and the municipalities of Sauda, Suldal, and Vindafjord in Rogaland county.

Etne has a varied landscape, extending from the Etnefjorden, Skånevikfjorden, and Åkrafjorden at sea level, through the villages up to the high mountains. In the far north, there is a barren and heavily eroded mountain glacier, Folgefonna, where the municipality's highest point rises 1,638 metres (5,374 ft) above sea level. Folgefonna National Park is partially located in Etne. In addition to that national park, Etne has three nature reserves: Brattholmen, Skåno, and Langebudalen. Lakes in the area include Løkjelsvatnet. The famous waterfall Langfossen is located in northern Etne.[7]

History

Historical population
Year Pop. ±%
1951 2,452 —    
1960 2,512 +2.4%
1970 3,930 +56.4%
1980 3,980 +1.3%
1990 4,037 +1.4%
2000 3,917 −3.0%
2010 3,882 −0.9%
2015 4,103 +5.7%
Source: Statistics Norway.

Recent archeological findings indicate that the area was already inhabited around 500 BC.[8]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Etne, 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 Etne is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[9]

Etne Kommunestyre 2011–2015
Party Name Name in Norwegian Number of
representatives
  Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet 6
  Progress Party Framstegspartiet 3
  Conservative Party Høgre 3
  Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti 2
  Centre Party Senterpartiet 6
  Liberal Party Venstre 1
Total number of members: 21

Transportation

The European route E134 highway runs the length of the municipality connecting it to the city of Haugesund in the southwest and to Oslo in the east. The highway runs through Etnesjøen and then northeastwards along the Åkrafjorden before crossing into the neighboring municipality of Odda. There are many tunnels along the route, some quite long, including the Åkrafjord Tunnel, Fjæra Tunnel, Markhus Tunnel, and Rullestad Tunnel.

Interestingly, the Eintveitbrua is a bridge in rural Etne that is not connected to the road network. It is considered to be a bridge to nowhere.

Notable residents

References

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External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
  • The dictionary definition of Etne at Wiktionary
  • Hordaland travel guide from Wikivoyage
  • Pictures from Etne