Stord

Stord kommune
—  Municipality  —

Coat of arms

Hordaland within
Norway
Stord within Hordaland
Coordinates: 59°48′29″N 5°27′59″E / 59.80806°N 5.46639°E / 59.80806; 5.46639Coordinates: 59°48′29″N 5°27′59″E / 59.80806°N 5.46639°E / 59.80806; 5.46639
Country Norway
County Hordaland
District Sunnhordland
Administrative centre Leirvik
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Liv Kari Eskeland (H)
Area
 • Total 144 km2 (56 sq mi)
 • Land 137 km2 (53 sq mi)
Area rank 360 in Norway
Population (2008)
 • Total 17,092
 • Rank 60 in Norway
 • Density 120/km2 (300/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 5.6 %
Demonym Stordabu[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1221
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.stord.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway
Historical population
Year Pop.   ±%  
1951 5,583 —    
1961 7,766 +39.1%
1971 10,607 +36.6%
1981 13,007 +22.6%
1991 14,684 +12.9%
2001 16,241 +10.6%
2011 17,804 +9.6%
Source: Statistics Norway.

Stord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" - as it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural land, and mountain areas.

Stord is located on the island of the same name, of which the northern part is included in Fitjar municipality. In addition to the southern part of the Stord island, the municipality includes the islands of Huglo, Storsøya and Føyno. The main population centres in Stord are Leirvik and Sagvåg. Stord has the highest population in the district of Sunnhordland, and was declared a city in 1997.

History

The battle of Stord was fought on or by this island between the Norwegian king Hakon Haraldsson and the Danish king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, supported by Hakon's brother's sons led by Harald "Greycloak" Eiriksson. The parish of Stordøen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Fitjar was separated from Stord in 1860, and Valestrand in 1868.

Name

The municipality is named after the main island of Stord (Old Norse: Storð). The name is old and was and still is used in Icelandic literature meaning ground or earth. Before 1889, the name was written "Stordøen".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 June 1987. The arms shows a yellow twig of holly on a red field. The designer was Truls Nygaard.[2]

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Economy

The 3 largest private employers in Stord, Kværner Stord AS, Wärtsilä Norway AS and Apply Leirvik AS, employ more than 3000 people.

Aker Stord, situated south of Leirvik, is the largest yard in Norway. Aker Stord has built the biggest oil production platforms in the world, Gullfaks C and Troll.

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Transport

An extensive tunnel and bridge system, the Triangle Link, connected Stord to the mainland on 27 December 2000 and to Bømlo on 30 April 2001. The airport in Stord is Stord Airport, Sørstokken. On 10 October 2006, Atlantic Airways Flight 670 skidded off the runway at the airport. Four people died.[3][4]

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Last modified on 12 March 2013, at 19:59