Forsand

Forsand is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 780 km2 municipality existed from 1871 until 2020 when it was merged into Sandnes municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Forsand. Other villages in the municipality included Lysebotn, Øvre Espedal, Oanes, Kolabygda, and Fløyrli.

Forsand municipality surrounded the famous Lysefjorden and it was located on the east side of the Høgsfjorden. In 1999, evidence of a population here dating back to around 7500 BC was located.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, it was one of the largest municipalities within the county of Rogaland in terms of area, and one of the smallest in terms of population. The 780 km2 municipality was the 141st largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Forsand was the 376th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,245. The municipality's population density was 1.8 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 12.9% over the last decade.

General information
The municipality of Fossan was established on 1 January 1871 when the very large municipality of Høgsfjord was divided into two: Fossan (located east of the Høgsfjorden and south of the Frafjorden) and Høle (located west of the Høgsfjorden). Initially, Fossan had 2,081 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the municipality was split, with everything located south and east of the Frafjorden being transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal. The reason for this border change was because this area had no road connection with the rest of Forsand, but it was connected by road to Gjesdal.

On 1 January 2020, Forsand municipality was dissolved. The area on the northwestern shore of the Lysefjorden around the Preikestolen became a part of the neighboring Strand Municipality and the rest of Forsand became part of Sandnes Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Forsand farm (Forsandr) since the first Forsand Church was built there. The first element is for which means "sticking out" or "protruding". The last element is which means "sand" or "sandy beach". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Fossan. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Forsand.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 11 March 1988 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Vert, a heron vigilant argent" (På grøn grunn ein sølv hegre). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a heron standing on one leg. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field symbolizes the importance of the local forests and wildlife. The heron was chosen since it is a common bird that lives in the area, from the fjords all the way up into the mountains. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Forsand. It was part of the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Geography
Forsand was a large municipality that is very mountainous with a long, narrow fjord running through the middle from east to west. The Lysefjorden was surrounded by very steep 1000 m tall cliffs such as Kjerag and Preikestolen, with the Lysefjord Bridge crossing the fjord near the western end. The famous Kjeragbolten boulder and Kjeragfossen waterfall were located along the inner part of the fjord. The village of Lysebotn is located at the eastern end of the fjord. The lake Nilsebuvatnet is located high up in the mountains, north of Lysebotn at the border of Strand and Forsand municipalities. It is regulated for hydroelectric power use at the Lysebotn Hydroelectric Power Station.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ryfylke District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Forsand was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown for the councils was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Forsand:


 * 1871-1879: Osmund G. Espedal
 * 1880-1881: Knud O. Moluf
 * 1882-1885: Osmund G. Espedal
 * 1886-1887: Rasmus I. Norland
 * 1888-1889: Thormod Schavland
 * 1890-1893: Rasmus I. Nordland
 * 1894-1895: Thormod Schavland
 * 1896-1897: Børge T. Kommedal
 * 1898-1899: Tore T. Haaland
 * 1901-1910: Rasmus I. Norland
 * 1911-1913: Ingebret R. Norland
 * 1914-1916: Rasmus I. Norland
 * 1917-1918: Torvald O. Espedal
 * 1918-1919: Rasmus J. Dirdal
 * 1920-1922: Ingebret R. Norland
 * 1923-1940: Torgeir Espedal
 * 1941-1941: Torstein I. Fossan
 * 1945-1947: Torgeir Espedal
 * 1948-1958: Peter Norland
 * 1958-1961: Torstein I. Fossan
 * 1962-1965: Alf T. Espedal (LL)
 * 1966-1967: Tormod Harboe
 * 1968-1971: Alf T. Espedal
 * 1972-1978: Tormod Rossavik (KrF)
 * 1978-1983: Per Fløysvik (KrF)
 * 1984-1989: Årstein Løland (Sp)
 * 1990-1991: Torstein Haukalid (KrF)
 * 1992-1999: Fridtjov Thorsen Norland (Sp)
 * 1999-2003: Torstein Haukalid (KrF)
 * 2003-2007: Ingeborg Søyland (Sp)
 * 2007-2015: Ole Tom Guse (KrF)
 * 2015-2019: Bjarte S. Dagestad (H)