Gjesdal

Gjesdal Municipality
Gjesdal kommune
Gjestal herred  (historic name)
Gjæsdal herred  (historic name)
View of the Gjesdal landscape
View of the Gjesdal landscape
Rogaland within Norway
Rogaland within Norway
Gjesdal within Rogaland
Gjesdal within Rogaland
Coordinates: 58°46′55″N 06°00′31″E / 58.78194°N 6.00861°E / 58.78194; 6.00861
CountryNorway
CountyRogaland
DistrictJæren
Established1 Jan 1838
 • Created asFormannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centreÅlgård
Government
 • Mayor (2013)Frode Fjeldsbø (Ap)
Area
 • Total
617.99 km2 (238.61 sq mi)
 • Land558.25 km2 (215.54 sq mi)
 • Water59.73 km2 (23.06 sq mi)  9.7%
 • Rank#187 in Norway
Population
 (2023)
 • Total
12,302
 • Rank#95 in Norway
 • Density22/km2 (60/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +11.4%
DemonymGjesdalbu[1]
Official language
 • Norwegian formNeutral
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1122[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Gjesdal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgård. Other villages in Gjesdal include Dirdal, Frafjord, Gilja, Gjesdal, and Oltedal. The municipality lies about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the southwest of the city of Stavanger in southwestern Norway.[4]

The European route E39 highway runs through the western side of the municipality. On the east side of the municipality, the Frafjord Tunnel connects the Frafjord valley with the rest of the municipality.

The 618-square-kilometre (239 sq mi) municipality is the 187th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gjesdal is the 95th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 12,302. The municipality's population density is 22 inhabitants per square kilometre (57/sq mi) and its population has increased by 11.4% over the previous 10-year period.[5][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. ^ Store norske leksikon. "Gjesdal" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  6. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).