Gloppen

Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east.

Each of the areas have their own main service centres. Sandane, the administrative centre of the municipality, is the largest with about 2,500 inhabitants. Sandane, Vereide, and Sørstranda are centered on the Gloppefjorden in Gloppen in the central part of the municipality. The villages of Byrkjelo, Re, Kandal, and Egge are centered on the lake Breimsvatnet in the Breim area in the east. The villages of Straume, Eimhjellen, and Solheim are located around the Hyefjorden in Hyen in the west. The whole municipality sits on the southern side of the large Nordfjorden.

The European route E39 highway runs through the municipality before crossing the Nordfjorden on a car ferry. The Sandane Airport, Anda is located along the E39 highway, just north of Vereide.

The 1031 km2 municipality is the 112th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gloppen is the 162nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,892. The municipality's population density is 6.1 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 3.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
Gloppen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the Gloppen parish (prestegjeld) including the sub-parishes (sokn) of Gimmestad, Breim, and Vereide. On 1 January 1886, the sub-parish of Breim (population: 1,823) was separated from Gloppen to form its own municipality. This left Gloppen with 2,970 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Breim (population: 1,731) was merged back into the municipality of Gloppen. After the merger, the population of Gloppen was 5,702. On 1 January 1965, the Hoplandsgrenda area (population: 42) of Gloppen municipality (on the northern shore of the Nordfjorden) was transferred to neighboring Stryn Municipality. On 1 January 1992, the Lote area of Gloppen (also on the north side of the Nordfjorden) was transferred to Eid Municipality. This left all of Gloppen located south of the Nordfjorden.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created Vestland county after Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties were merged.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Gloppefjorden (Gloppi) since it is one of the central geographical features of the municipality. The name is probably derived from the word which means "narrow opening" or "mountain gorge".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 19 December 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a horse passant argent" (På blå grunn ein gåande sølv hest). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a fjord horse. The horse 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 design depicts the Norwegian fjord horse which is a relatively small, but very strong, horse breed from the mountainous regions of Western Norway. The arms were designed by Petter Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Gloppen. It is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government
Gloppen 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 Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gloppen is made up of 27 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 (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. The mayors of Gloppen:


 * 1838–1838: Christoffer Nielsen Scherdahlen
 * 1839–1844: Rasmus Rolfsen Arnet
 * 1844–1845: Gabriel R. Aasebø
 * 1846–1847: Rasmus L. Gaasemyr
 * 1848–1851: Jørgen Meier Heffermehl
 * 1852–1855: Rasmus L. Gaasemyr
 * 1856–1865: Jørgen Meyer Heffermehl
 * 1866–1869: Abraham V. Heffermehl
 * 1870–1883: Ole Josefson Hestenes
 * 1884–1886: Jakob J. Myklebust (V)
 * 1886–1893: Ole Josefson Hestenes
 * 1894–1902: Johan C. Bugge
 * 1903–1913: Jakob J. Lothe
 * 1914–1919: Jon A. Vereide
 * 1919–1922: Elias Faleide (V)
 * 1923–1928: Jon A. Vereide
 * 1928–1941: Elias Faleide (V)
 * 1942–1945: Martin R. Andenes (NS)
 * 1945–1947: Elias Faleide (V)
 * 1947–1956: Alf Gloppestad
 * 1956–1962: John Austrheim (Sp)
 * 1962–1964: Elias Eimhjellen
 * 1965–1967: Johnny Bakke (V)
 * 1968-1975: Ola M. Hestenes (Sp)
 * 1976-1988: Olav Moritsgård (Sp)
 * 1988-1999: Nils R. Sandal (Sp)
 * 1999-2015: Anders Ryssdal (Sp)
 * 2015-2023: Leidulf Gloppestad (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Arnar Kvernevik (Ap)

Geography
The municipality is located southern shores of the Nordfjorden. To the north is Stad Municipality, to the east is Stryn Municipality, to the south is Sunnfjord Municipality, and to the west is Kinn Municipality and Bremanger Municipality. There are two fjords that branch off the main fjord into Gloppen: Hyefjorden and Gloppefjorden.

Gloppen has a natural landscape with virtually unspoiled nature ranging from sea level up to high-alpine mountains of some 1800 m height. Snønipa is the highest mountain in the municipality and is located at the Myklebustbreen glacier. The lakes Breimsvatn and Emhjellevatnet are, respectively, the first and second largest lakes in Gloppen. There are also some large glaciers such as Ålfotbreen, Gjegnalundsbreen, and Myklebustbreen. The river Gloppeelva runs from the lake Breimsvatnet to the Gloppefjorden.

Climate
Gloppen has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification), also known as a marine west coast climate. The wettest season is autumn and winter, with December as the wettest month. The driest season is April - August. The driest month May gets about a third of the average precipitation in December. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C) in spring is 27 April and average date for first freeze in autumn is 15 October giving a frost-free season of 170 days (1981-2010 average). In January 1987, Sandane recorded a low of -19.5 °C), and June 2020 recorded a high of 31.2 °C). In October 2005, Sandane recorded 24 °C), which was new October record for Vestland province. The Sandane weather station started recording in June 1957. There is also a weather station at Sandane Airport, showing similar temperatures. Up on the Ålfotbreen glacier, partly in the municipality, precipitation is estimated to be around 6000 mm annually.

Economy
The dominant trades and industries in Gloppen are agriculture and farming. The municipal centre Sandane is also home to a college of secondary education and a branch of Sogn og Fjordane University College which specialized in music therapy (this school closed in 2005). The Firda Upper Secondary School is located in Sandane.

Karnilshaugen
Gloppen is the site of Karnils tumulus burial mound (Karnilshaugen) from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound or barrow. Karnilshaugen or Tinghaugen på Hauge is located on the Hauge farm west of Sandane. Karnilshaugen is probably one of the ten largest mounds in Nordfjord. The burial mound was built on top of Tinghaug, the site of a Thing (assembly). Tinghaug was a place of public gathering, for cultural events and religious actions.

Notable people

 * Knut Gjengedal (1900 in Gloppen – 1973), a schoolteacher, novelist, short story writer, and children's writer.
 * John Austrheim (1912 in Gloppen – 1995), a farmer, politician, and mayor of Gloppen from 1955-1962
 * Ola M. Hestenes (1919 in Gloppen – 2008), a politician and mayor of Gloppen from 1968-1976
 * Nils R. Sandal (born 1950 in Breim), a politician and mayor of Gloppen from 1987–1999
 * Sigrid Moldestad (born 1972 in Breim), a folk singer, musician, fiddler, and instrumentalist
 * Anne-Pia Nygård (born 1977 in Sandane), a writer

Sport

 * Kjell Ove Hauge (born 1969 in Gloppen), a retired Norwegian shot putter and discus thrower
 * Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (born 1971 in Nordfjordeid), a former cross-country skier, bronze medallist in the 2002 Winter Olympics, and team silver medallist at the 2010 Winter Olympics
 * Rune Bolseth (born 1980 in Gloppen), a retired Norwegian footballer with 430 club caps
 * Trude Raad (born 1990 in Breim), a deaf Norwegian track and field athlete