Hordaland
The Central County
of Western Norway
Hordaland County
Hordaland County, with its more than 455,000 inhabitants,
is the home of 10% of Norway’s population. Only the
capital Oslo and the surrounding county of Akershus have
larger populations.
Hordaland is almost divided in two by the 179 km long
Hardangerfjord, one of Norway’s main fjords and a great
tourist attraction.
Hordaland is a region of islands and skerries and sheltered
bays, fjords with steep mountainsides, magnificent waterfalls, mountain plateaux and glaciers, and fertile valleys.
Hordaland comprises 33 municipalities governed by district
councils.
The majority of the population live in the coastal areas and
on the low-lying narrow strip of farming land along the
fjords.
Bergen, one of Europe’s great scenic cities, is known as the
gateway to Western Norway. It is the centre of Hordaland
County and the site of the county administration.
Hordaland has more than 100 natural parks. The Hardanger
Mountain Plateau is the largest national park in Norway and
the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe. The park
is the home of the largest herd of wild reindeer in Europe.
The Hardanger Mountain Plateau with Mount Hårteigen. 1690m, is the largest plateau in
Northern Europe.
Photo:Hardangervidda Natursenter Eidfjord
Photo: Oddmund Lunde
Bergen – gateway to the fjords
Bergen, the «Second City» of Norway, is the gateway to the
world famous fjords of Western Norway.
There is much in this beautiful city to remind us of its
long and glorious history as a centre of trade and shipping.
«Bryggen», the Quayside on the old harbour front, with its
characteristic old timber houses still stands as a monument
to the city’s widespread trading activities during the era of
the Hanseatic League.
The birthplace of Edvard Grieg still retains a solid position
as one of Scandinavia’s most «cultural» cities, with its
International Festival, its well-known symphony orchestra,
a richly endowed musical life, ballet, theatre and other
cultural activities. With its mixture of modern, efficient bigcity facilities and traditional picturesqueness, Bergen is a
popular tourist destination and a frequent host to congresses
and meetings.
Photo left: Bergen, view from Fløyen. (Stanley Hauge)
Photo under: World Heritage Site Bryggen. (Robin Strand, Bergen Reiselivslag)
Trade and Industry
Trade and industry in Hordaland is characterized by multiplicity. The county can boast a wide variety of industries.
Most of these consist of small or medium-sized companies,
often with a long tradition of doing business internationally.
Products range from aluminium ingots to highly advanced
catamaran vessels, from knitwear to remotely operated
under-water vehicles, from tinned sardines to gas-fuelled
engines, from smoked salmon to the largest offshore
platforms in the world.
The manufacturing industry includes leading companies in
electronics, microwave and satellite communications.
Hordaland has strong metallurgical and mineral industries
producing ferrous alloys, aluminium, calcium carbide, zinc
and ilmenite.
Important industrial areas are Bergen, Stord, Odda, Husnes,
Ålvik, Øygarden and Mongstad.
About 30,000 persons (2005) are employed in the manufacturing industry in Hordaland. Only the neighbouring
county of Rogaland employes more (39,000).
Several major oil companies have offices in Bergen and
several huge oil and gas fields are operated from here. On
the island of Stord there are a number of companies that
build sections and equipment for platforms and the offshore
industry.
Shipyards in Hordaland build vessels, act as
subcontractors and service companies for the fishing and the
merchant fleets, the offshore industry and the transport and
passengers market.
Some of the major players on the international shipping
stage operate out of Bergen.
More fruit is grown in Hordaland than in any other county in
Norway, and Hordaland is the leading county in fish farming.
Photo: Statoil
Facts about Hordaland
Population, 1 Oct 2006 455,599
Area (total) 15,449 km2
Continental area 13,367 km2
Offshore islands 2,083 km2
Area of freshwater lakes 669 km2
Area of glaciers 518 km2
Agricultural area in use (2005) 42,284 ha
Offshore islands 6,482
Islands in freshwater lakes 2,645
Freshwater lakes 15,529
Length of the mainland coastline 2,237 km
Length of the islands’ coastline 6,504 km
Length of coastline, total 8,741 km
Largest island: Osterøy 329 km2
Highest mountain: Hardangerjøkulen 1,863 m
Highest waterfall (approximate vertical fall):
Skykkjedalsfossen (Eidfjord) 300 m
Tyssestrengene (Odda) 300 m
Highest waterfall, not regulated,
(approximate vertical fall):
Vedalsfossen in Eidfjord 200 m
Longest fjord:
Hardangerfjorden 179 km
(The second longest fjord in Norway.
Sognefjorden - 204 km - is the longest.)
Largest glacier: Folgefonna 212
km2
(The third largest glacier in Norway.
Jostedalsbreen and Svartisen are larger.)
Longest road tunnel:
Folgefonntunnelen 11,150 m
Bømlafjordtunnelen (under sea) 7,931 m
Vallaviktunnelen 7,510 m
Longest railway tunnel:
FInsetunnelen 10,589 m
Longest road bridge:
Nordhordlandsbrua, pontoon 1,610 m
Askøybrua, suspension bridge, 1,056 m
centre span 850 m
Climate:
Highest annual precipitation:
Kvittingen in Samnanger (1967) 5,087 mm
Precipitation during 24 hours:
Matre in Sunnhordland (1940) 229.6 mm
Highest recorded air temperature:
Voss (3 August 1982) + 33.2° C
Lowest recorded air temperature:
Finse (7 Jan 1982) ÷ 39.6° C
Large quantities of high-quality fruit is gathered from some
550,000 trees every autumn. As the most important fruitgrowing county in Norway, Hordaland produces 1/3 of the
country’s apples and pears, and 70 % of the cherries.
Tourism is another industry of major importance, in particular in the Bergen, Voss, and Hardanger areas. Hordaland
county is Norway’s second most popular tourist area in the
summer.
Beautiful mountain scenery, a well-developed network of
ski-trails and lifts have turned Voss into one of Norway’s
popular winter sport resorts.
Employment by sector in Hordaland
Employed persons 16-74 years, by sex, 4th quarter 2005
Total 2005
Hordaland county
Agriculture, hunting and forestry
Manufacturing and mining
Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas
Electricity, gas and water supply
219,329
Males
114,848
Females
104,481
5,129
3,896
1,233
30,461
23,459
7,002
1,864
1,437
427
Construction
15,881
14,687
1,194
Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants
37,143
17,115
20,028
Transport, storage and communications
15,814
11,888
3,926
5,222
2,532
2,690
Real estate, leasing and business activites
21,937
13,535
8,402
Public administration and defence, compulsory social
security
12,234
6,931
5,303
Financial intermediation
Education
19,990
7,493
12,497
Health and social sevices
44,326
7,777
36,549
Other social and personal activities
8,257
3,705
4,552
Unspecified
1,071
393
678
Photo top: Waterfall. (Stanley Hauge)
Photo middle: Rafting in Raundalselva. (Voss Rafting)
Photo bottom: Glacierwalking on Folgefonna. (A. Stevenson, Hordaland Reiseliv)
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Fishing and aquaculture
Fishing and aquaculture are important industries in
Hordaland. In 2005 fishing fleets from Hordaland delivered
fish with a first hand value of 1,937 mill. NOK – around
20 % of the total Norwegian catch. Only about 1/5 of the
catch was delivered in Hordaland.
Hordaland is Norway’s most important aquaculture county
and a pioneering region in modern aquaculture.
In 2005 158 fish farms in Hordaland produced 102,108 tons
of salmon and 20,070 tons of trout, 19% of the total
Norwegian production of salmon and trout. More than 80%
of the production is exported, the most important markets
being Russia, Denmark, France and Japan. The first hand
value of the production was 2,380 million NOK.
The aquaculture industry is now widening the range of
species farmed to include crustaceans, molluscs, cod,
halibut, turbot, catfish and eel.
The export value of fish from Hordaland was 3,084 million
NOK in 2005, about 10 % of the total Norwegian fish export.
Photo left: The fishing fleet in Austevoll. (Linda Mathilde Økland, Austevoll Forlag)
Photo under: A typical fish farm. (Inge Døskeland)
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Municipalities
The population of Hordaland is 455,599
(1st Oct 2006). More than half the population, 243,960, live in Bergen. Eight other
municipalities have more than 10,000 AUSTRHEIM
FEDJE
ÅRÅS
inhabitants. Modalen is the smallest
FEDJE
municipality with 349 inhabitants.
MASFJORDEN
MODALEN
MASFJORDNES
MO
RADØY
The map shows the municipalities in
Hordaland and part of the road system
2,506
Bergen
465
243,960
Bømlo
219
10,868
1,459
914
678
3,842
Eidfjord
Etne
Fedje
9
630
Fitjar
152
2,889
Fjell
147
20,693
Fusa
379
3,738
Granvin
212
972
Jondal
199
1,063
Kvam
616
8,229
Kvinnherad
1,093
13,076
Lindås
474
13,538
Masfjorden
558
1,650
Meland
91
5,968
Modalen
385
349
Odda
1,584
7,176
Os
140
15,521
Osterøy
254
7,197
Radøy
111
4,649
Samnanger
266
2,351
Stord
138
16,845
Sund
99
5,660
Sveio
224
4,748
Tysnes
245
2,774
1,306
3,428
Ulvik
722
1,140
Vaksdal
738
4,096
1,816
13,803
66
4,111
Ullensvang
Voss
Øygarden
KLEPPESTØ
KVAM
BERGEN
STRAUME
ULVIK
EIDE
FJELL
BERGEN
SAMNANGER
TYSSE
EIDFJORD
NORHEIMSUND
SKOGSVÅG
KINSARVIK
SUND
OS
OSØYRO
EIKELANDSOSEN
JONDAL
FUSA
JONDAL
ULLENSVANG
STOREBØ
AUSTEVOLL
N
4,372
56
GRANVIN
N
114
Austrheim
ULVIK
OSTERØY
ASKØY
O
Austevoll
DALE
VAKSDAL
LONEVÅG
TYSNES
F
22,843
VOSSEVANGEN
KNARVIK
FREKHAUG
E
100
MELAND
UGGDALSEIDET
ODDA
G
Askøy
ØYGARDEN
L
Population
1.Oct 2006
VOSS
ROSENDAL
FITJAR
O
Area Km2
LINDÅS
F
Municipality:
MANGER
TJELDSTØ
FITJAR
ODDA
KVINNHERAD
SVORTLAND
STORD
LEIRVIK
BØMLO
ETNE
SVEIO
SVEIO
ETNE
EIDFJORD
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Energy sources:
Water and petroleum
Hordaland has a unique position in the Norwegian energy
market. The key words are water and petroleum.
Norway’s net export of crude oil and petroleums products
(including NGL) is about 3 million barrels per day. This
puts Norway in third place among the world’s leading net
crude exporters.
Four-fifths of the oil and gas come from the fields off the
coast of Hordaland. Two crude oil terminals are located in
the county, at Sture and Mongstad. Mongstad is also the
location of Norway’s largest refinery - producing 10 million
t.o.e. per year.
Natural gas from the vast Troll field (total reserves 1,286
billion Sm3) is processed at Kollsnes (Øygarden) and piped
to Europe. Troll gas will be an important source of energy
and chemical feedstock for continental Europe for at least
50 years. The Troll field is the biggest offshore gas reservoir
in Europe.
The power stations in Hordaland yearly produce 13,50018,500 GWh of electric energy, more than anywhere else
in the country.
Photo left: Skykkjedalsfoss. (Helge Sunde)
Photo under: The Mongstad Oil Refinery. (Statoil)
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Recognised centres of research and
education
Hordaland and Bergen can boast some of the most important centres of education and expertise, in terms of scope
and quality, in the whole of Norway.
The most important institutions include the University of
Bergen (UiB), the Norwegian School of Economics and
Business Administration (NHH), the Foundation for Social
and Industrial Research (SNF), Chr. Michelsen Institute
(CMI) and its subsidiary Chr. Michelsen Research A/S,
the Marine Research Institute, the Norwegian Underwater
Technology Centre (Falck NUTEC), Bergen High-Technology Centre (HIB), etc.
Other important education institutions are:
Bergen University College, Stord/Haugesund University
College, Bergen National Academy of the Arts, NLA - College of Teacher Education & NLA - Academy of Religion
and Education. A total of 30 300 students were registered at
the universities and colleges in Hordaland in 2005, i.e. 15%
of the total number of students in Norway.
Photo left: The University of Bergen is a young and modern university. Its focus on international cooperation
has been essential from the beginning and has earned the institution the reputation of being Norway’s most
international university. (Universitetet i Bergen)
The Hordaland Coat of Arms
The Hordaland Coat of Arms is based
on the ancient seal of the Onarheim
«ting» or council at Tysnes, attached
to an address to the Norwegian king
in 1344.
The Onarheim seal was approved as
the county Coat of Arms by royal
decree in 1961.
The Hordaland Coat of Arms is made
by Magnus Hardeland.
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Communications
Bergen Airport at Flesland with its more than 4 million
passengers a year is the main gateway to Western Norway.
The Bergen-Oslo railway, express buses, local buses, ferries and fast-moving catamarans are other important means
of transportation. Bergen is the point of departure for the
coastal route between the southern and northern parts of
Norway, «Hurtigruta». There are ferry links from Bergen
to Denmark, Great Britain, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
On a nation wide basis, the total volume of cargo loaded and
unloaded within the port district of Bergen (2005: 75 million tons) represents around 50% of the cargo volume in all
the Norwegian port districts combined. The road network
in Hordaland is constantly being improved and developed,
in particular the major roads. The Bergen peninsula and the
surrounding district are connected by bridges.
In 2000 the longest tunnel in Hordaland (111 km), under the
Folgefonna glacier, was opened. The Triangle Link (opened
2000/01), with its two suspension bridges and the longest
underwater tunnel in Northern Europe, connects the islands of
Stord and Bømlo with the mainland in the south. A major
project in the next decade in Western Norway is the further
development of the «The coastal trunk road E39» between
Kristiansand and Trondheim. Road development is to a
great extent financed by toll charges.
Photo left: E39 Nordhordlandsbrua. (Ann Steindal)
Photo under: Each year ferries in Hordaland transport 3,3 million cars and 3,9 million passengers.
(Stanley Hauge)
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Culture
Hordaland is a major cultural centre in Norway.
Bergen was European Cultural City in the year 2000.
Bergen, the birthplace of Edvard Grieg, has one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Europe, important festivals, including the well-known Bergen International Festival,
and a wide range of museums and galleries.
Norway’s first theatre was established in Bergen in 1850,
with Henrik Ibsen as one of the first directors.
The city has managed to preserve much of its unique wooden architecture and monumental stone buildings.
Bergen has developed into a major international centre in
popular music with a wide range of artists performing
world-wide.
The other parts of the county can also boast rich cultural
traditions which form the basis of a strong and healthy
cultural infrastructure.
A wide range of festivals all over the county have visitors
both from Norway and abroad. Films, technology, music,
theatre, dance, youth, environment, arts and media are just
some of the themes at these festivals.
Photo left: Henrik Ibsens’s famous «Peer Gynt» played at Hordaland Teater in Bergen. (Tom Erik Mathiesen)
Photo under: The 17th century castle the Barony of Rosendal and the renaissance garden. (Ann Steindal)
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The political structure
Control Committee
5 members
Hordaland County Council
57 councillors
The County Council
Committee for Culture,
Resources and
Environmental Issues
13 members
The County Executive Board
15 members
Committee for Education
and Health Issues
13 members
Committee for Transport
and Communication
Hordaland County Council is responsible for county policies
within the following fields: Secondary education, cultural
affairs, communications, dental health, economic development and regional planning, including the development of
the road system.
The County Council employs around 4 300 people with
an annual budget of around 4 million NOK (2007).
Almost 60% of the work carried out by the council
employees is related to secondary education.
13 members
45 secondary schools (including branches) situated in
various parts of the county have more than 18,000 pupils.
Chief Executive, Paul M.Nilsen
head of the administration and the
council’s principal policy adviser.
County Mayor of Hordaland,
Torill Selsvold Nyborg
representing The Christian
Democratic Party.
The council’s income is derived principally from local taxes
(46%), central government block grants (31%), earmarked
central government grants and from certain services
provided by the council. The level of income is defined
by the central government.
The County Strategy Plan draws up the aims and strategies
for the development of the county.
The County Council is the elected body responsible for
county policies. The Hordaland Council has 57 members
elected every four years.
For the election period 2003-2007 nine political parties are
represented in the Council: The Labour Party 13 representatives, The Progress Party 13, The Conservative Party 11,
The Christian Democratic Party 5, The Red Electoral Alliance 2, The Socialist Left Party 6, The Liberal Party 2, The
Centre Party 4, The Pensioners’ Party 1.
Detailed decision making is delegated to the County
Executive Board elected by the County Council among its
57 members.
The full council meets 4-5 times a year, the
County Executive Board about once a month and the other
principal committees once a month.
Links to information about Norway
www.norway.no
Public sector information and services on the Internet
www.government.no
Gateway to information about Norway, government etc.
www.invanor.no
Innovation Norway
www.nortrade.com
The Official Norwegian Trade Portal
www.europakontoret.no
Hordaland County’s European Office
www.ssb.no
Statistics Norway
www.stortinget.no
The Norwegian Parliament’s official web site
Tourist information:
www.visitnorway.com
www.visithordaland.com
www.visitbergen.com
www.fjordnorway.no
www.northsea-cycle.com
Agnes Mowinckels gate 5,
Postboks 7900
N-5020 Bergen, Norway
Published by Hordaland County Council,
Information Services.
February 2007. Printed: 2000 copies.
Printed by: Grafisk Trykk
Tel.+47 55 23 90 00
email: hfk@post.hfk.no
www.hordaland.no