Sokndal is the southernmost municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hauge. Other villages in Sokndal include Jøssingfjord, Rekefjord, Sogndalsstranda, and Åna-Sira.
Sogndalsstranda is a picturesque, old fishing village, which may have inspired the municipality in becoming Norway's first member of Cittaslow. The Jøssingfjorden, known for the Altmark Incident, is also located in Sokndal Municipality.
The 294.97-square-kilometre (113.89 sq mi) municipality is the 267th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sokndal Municipality is the 220th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,356. The municipality's population density is 11.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (30/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.3% over the previous 10-year period.
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General information
The parish of Soggendal (later spelled Sokndal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1845, the small ladested of Sogndal (population: 348) was separated from Sokndal Municipality to become a municipality of its own. This left Sokndal Municipality with 2,819 residents. On 12 December 1868, a small part of Sokndal Municipality (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Eigersund Municipality. On 1 July 1944, the municipality of Sogndal ladested (population: 311) was reincorporated into Sokndal Municipality. In 1947, a small area in Sokndal Municipality (population: 7) was transferred to Eigersund Municipality. On 1 January 1967, the Tjørn farm (population: 10) was transferred from Eigersund Municipality to Sokndal Municipality.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Soknedalen valley (Old Norse: Sóknardalr) since the first Sokndal Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Sókn (now Sokno). That river name is derived from the verb sœkja which means "to seek" or "to strive for". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus, the meaning is "the valley with the river which seeks (finds/forces) its way".
Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Soggendal or Sogndal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sokndal.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 8 July 1988. The official blazon is "Or, three pickaxes bendwise sable" (Norwegian: I gull tre svarte hakker, 2-1). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a set of three pickaxes with two over one. This design was chosen to symbolize the importance of mining and agriculture in the municipality. The arms were designed by John Digernes from Haugesund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Sokndal Municipality. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.
Geography
The municipality is the southernmost in Rogaland county. The North Sea lies to the south and west, the river Sira and the Åna fjord lie to the southeast (separating it from Flekkefjord Municipality in Agder county), Lund Municipality lies to the east and north, and Eigersund Municipality lies to the northwest. The lakes Grøsfjellvatnet and Eiavatnet both lie on the northern border of the municipality. The coastline of Sokndal Municipality is fairly smooth, although there are two larger fjords which cut into the municipality: the Rekefjord and Jøssingfjorden. The Lille Presteskjær Lighthouse marks the entrance to the Rekefjord. The southeastern part of the municipality is very rocky and rugged. As part of Magma Geopark, much of the landscape is characteristic and open. It is the site of the large Tellnes mine, a large producer of titanium.
Economy
At Tellnes, just east of the village of Hauge, there is an ilmenite mine run by Titania AS, supplying 10% of the world production of ilmenite (a type of titanium). It's also the world's largest opencast ilmenite mine.
Government
Sokndal Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sokndal Municipality is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors
The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Sokndal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
Notable people
Carl Adolph Dahl (1769 at Aave in Rekefjord – 1819), a Norwegian jurist and politician
Hans Reidar Holtermann (1895 in Sokndal - 1966), a military officer who commanded of Hegra Fortress in WWII
Rolf Johan Lenschow (1928 in Hauge i Dalane – 2014), a civil engineer and professor in concrete construction
Frank Tønnesen (born 1972 in Sokndal), a singer-songwriter and guitarist who goes by the stage name Tønes
Anne Tønnessen (born 1974 in Sokndal), a football player and Olympic champion
Vibeke Stene (born 1978 in Sokndal), a gothic metal soprano and actress
Siri Seglem (born 1983 in Sokndal), a handball player with 23 caps with Norway women