Eidfjord

Eidfjord Municipality
Eidfjord kommune
View of the Måbødalen valley
View of the Måbødalen valley
Vestland within Norway
Vestland within Norway
Eidfjord within Vestland
Eidfjord within Vestland
Coordinates: 60°26′06″N 07°16′38″E / 60.43500°N 7.27722°E / 60.43500; 7.27722
CountryNorway
CountyVestland
DistrictHardanger
Established1 Jan 1891
 • Preceded byUlvik Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1964
 • Succeeded byUllensvang Municipality
Re-established1 Jan 1977
 • Preceded byUllensvang Municipality
Administrative centreEidfjord
Government
 • Mayor (2023)Timo Knoch (Ap)
Area
 • Total1,498.25 km2 (578.48 sq mi)
 • Land1,388.67 km2 (536.17 sq mi)
 • Water109.57 km2 (42.31 sq mi)  7.3%
 • Rank#57 in Norway
Population
 (2023)
 • Total962
 • Rank#337 in Norway
 • Density0.7/km2 (2/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +1.1%
DemonymEidfjøre[1]
Official language
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-4619[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal population lives. The other major population centre in the municipality is the village of Øvre Eidfjord.

View of the Kjeåsen mountain farm
View of Vøringfossen and Måbødalen

Eidfjord is situated at the end of the Eid Fjord, an inner branch of the large Hardangerfjorden. The village of Eidfjord is a major cruise ship port of call. Eidfjord has several tourist sites, like the Sima Power Plant which is built into the mountain itself, the Måbødalen valley, and the Vøringsfossen waterfall which has a free fall of 182 metres (597 ft). Large parts of the Hardangervidda (Europe's largest mountain plateau) are located in Eidfjord. The Hardangervidda Natursenter, a visitors centre and museum for Hardangervidda National Park, is located in Øvre Eidfjord.

The 1,498-square-kilometre (578 sq mi) municipality is the 57th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eidfjord is the 337th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 962. The municipality's population density is 0.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.8/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Ullensvang og Eidfjord be closed.[6]

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  5. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
  6. ^ Fjelltveit, Ingvild; Raunholm, Per Vidar (20 December 2016). "Foreslår å legge ned 17 lensmannskontor i Vest politidistrikt". NRK Hordaland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2017.