Sogn og Fjordane

From Free net encyclopedia

Sogn og Fjordane fylke

Image:Sogn og Fjordane vapen.png

Image:Sogn og Fjordane kart.png

County

NO-14

Region

Vestlandet

Administrative centre

Leikanger

County mayor

Nils R. Sandal

Area
- Total
- Percentage

Ranked 8
18,623 km²
5.81 %

Population
- Total (2004)
- Percentage
- Change (10 years)
- Density

Ranked 17
107,222
2.34 %
-0.3 %
6/km²

Gross Regional Product
- Total (2001)
- Percentage
- GRP/capita

Ranked 16
24,923 million NOK
1.63 %
231,982 NOK

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 nature changes quite rapidly as more smaller mountains on the coastal line and gradually increasing in to mountains almost reaching 8000 feet. Because of the inland rising steeply, fjords cutting trough, the amount of precipitation is very high. Low pressure system come in from the west and meet the mountains thus causing rain and snowfall. Sogn og Fjordane is also home to the Urnes stave church, which is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

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Districts

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.

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