Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane is a
county in
Norway, bordering
Møre og Romsdal,
Oppland,
Buskerud and
Hordaland. The county administration is in
Leikanger. It was formerly called
Nordre Bergenhus amt.It is mainly a rural area with scattered population. It includes the biggest glacier in mainland Norway,
Jostedalsbreen, and the deepest lake,
Hornindalsvatnet. There are many famous waterfalls located in the area, including
Ramnefjellsfossen (previously called Utigardfossen), the tallest in Norway, and third tallest in the World;
Vettisfossen, one of Norway's highest waterfalls, with a vertical drop of 275 m, is located in the
Jotunheim mountains. Cruise ships visit the district all summer, because of the unique vistas of high mountains and deep blue fjords.
Although Sogn og Fjordane has some industry, predominantly hydroelectricity and aluminium, it is predominantly agricultural. The terrain changes quite rapidly with mostly smaller mountains on the coastline, gradually increasing to mountains reaching almost 8000 feet. Because of the steep rise in elevation, and fjords cutting through the terrain, the amount of precipitation is very high. Low pressure systems come in from the west and meet the mountains, which is known as orographic lifting, and cause rain and snowfall. Sogn og Fjordane is also home to the
Urnes stave church, which is listed by
UNESCO as a
world heritage site.
The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are
Sogn,
Sunnfjord and
Nordfjord. Sogn surrounds
Sognefjorden. Its length, from Solund on the offshore island of Sula in the
North Sea to Skjolden, at the head of its longest branch, the
Lustrafjorden, is 204 km.
Sogn og Fjordane is the only county in which all municipalities have declared
Nynorsk to be their official
written form of the
Norwegian language.
|
Location of Sogn og Fjordane Municipalities |
Sogn og Fjordane has a total of 26 municipalities:
*
County web site*
NRK County encyclopedia*
Firda - the countys largest newspaper*
forum.firda.no - the countys largest discussion group
