Høyanger

Høyanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Høyanger. Other villages in Høyanger municipality include Austreim, Bjordal, Kyrkjebø, Lavik, Ortnevik, and Vadheim.

Høyanger is known for having one of the first industrial towns in Norway to use its steep mountains surrounding the town giving excellent conditions for producing hydroelectricity needed for electrolysis. The main product being produced in the village of Høyanger was aluminium.

The 1001 km2 municipality is the 115th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Høyanger is the 202nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,949. The municipality's population density is 4.3 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 6.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. The municipality of Høyanger was created on 1 January 1964 when the old municipalities of Kyrkjebø and Lavik were merged to form a single municipality.

On 1 January 2020, the Nessane area of neighboring Balestrand Municipality was merged into Høyanger (and the rest of Balestrand was merged into a new, larger Sogndal Municipality). Also on that date, the municipality became part of the newly created Vestland county after Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties were merged.

Name
The municipality is named Høyanger (Høyjangr) after the old name of an arm of the Sognefjorden that is now called the Høyangsfjorden. The first element is derived from the word which means "hay". The last element is which means "bay" or "inlet". Thus the name is probably referring to the green hillsides along the fjord.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 15 May 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, three flames in bend argent" (På blå grunn tre sølv flammer i skrå rekkje). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of three flames lined up diagonally. 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 flames were chosen as a symbol for the local aluminium industry. Aluminium is melted and purified in the village of Høyanger, due to the cheap hydroelectric energy that is locally available. The colors represent waterpower (blue) and aluminium (silver). The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. 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 Høyanger. It is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government
Høyanger 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 Høyanger 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 mayors (ordførar) of Høyanger:


 * 1964-1967: Albert Hellem (Ap)
 * 1968-1975: Einar Lavik (Ap)
 * 1976-1991: Arvid Lillehauge (Ap)
 * 1991-1992: Bodil Bye Stavang (Ap)
 * 1992-1995: Liv Lønne (Ap)
 * 1996-2011: Kjartan Longva (Ap)
 * 2011–present: Petter Sortland (Ap)

Geography
The Sognefjorden (the largest fjord in Norway) runs through the center of the municipality. Høyanger is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Fjaler and Sunnfjord, to the east by Sogndal and Vik, to the south by Modalen and Masfjorden, and to the west by Gulen and Hyllestad.

Høyanger municipality covers an area of about 910 km2. Stølsheimen Nature Reserve was created in 1990 in Høyanger. Its 367 km2 area stretches from high mountaintops through fertile valleys and sweeps over steep meadows down to the fjord. Høyanger is perhaps best known for its mountain farms and lakes. From the village of Ortnevik there are marked footpaths up to Stølsheimen Park and from the village of Bjordal you may drive up the Stordal road to the summit at 730 m above sea level.

Economy
Høyanger is a modern industrial community which has grown in pace with the principal employers being Hydro Aluminium and Høyanger Metallverk. Hydroelectricity has played a major role in the development of the area. In addition to manufacturing aluminium, Høyanger supports a varied range of light industry that is backed by retail and service trades. In the rural areas bordering the fjord, farming is the main source of livelihood. There are currently 115 traditional farms gårds in the municipality. Each traditional farms originally had one owner, but most of them have been divided up and sold off over the years, and so there are more than 115 farms in use today.

Transportation
There are good connections with Oslo and Bergen by bus, as well as air and fast boat services. The nearest airport is in Førde, about 50 km away. The village of Lavik is an important junction for traffic to and from Bergen as it is a ferry port that is part of the European route E39 highway. Høyanger is reached from the neighboring municipality of Balestrand to the east by the Høyangertunnelen which is 7.5 km in length. It is part of the Norwegian County Road 55. It is one of the longest tunnels in Europe. Good ferry services across the Sognefjorden link the northern and southern sides of the municipality.

Attractions
In 1986, in Høyanger, Norsk Hydro Aluminium/Høyanger Metallverk opened a museum designed to show what water power has meant both locally and to Norway as a whole. Visitors will get to learn about how the aluminium industry has grown and prospered in the area thanks to the vast energy produced by water.

Near Vadheim is an 18th-century stone bridge called the Ytredal Bridge. It is a popular tourist attraction.

There is also a narrow gauge funicular railway in the area, first opened in 1953.

Notable people

 * Johan Austbø (1879 in Ikjefjord – 1945), a teacher, dancer, poet, composer, singer, and proponent for the Nynorsk language
 * Einar Liljedahl (1882 in Kyrkjebø – 1955), a Norwegian military officer
 * Torfinn Haukås (1931–1993), a novelist
 * Per Håland (1919 in Høyanger – 1999), a journalist, newspaper editor, and proponent for the Nynorsk language
 * Tell Teigen (1923 in Høyanger - 1958), an acrobat who balanced on stacked chairs atop of masts over 35 m tall
 * Einar Kringlen (born 1931 in Høyanger), a Norwegian physician, psychiatrist, and academic
 * Noralv Teigen (1932 in Høyanger – 2017), an actor, theatre instructor, and theatre director
 * Einar Førde (1943 in Høyanger – 2004), a journalist, politician, and director-general of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) from 1989 to 2001
 * Marit Tusvik (born 1951 in Høyanger), a Norwegian author, poet, and playwright
 * Even Hovland (born 1989 in Vadheim), a professional footballer with almost 300 club caps
 * Vegar Gjermundstad (born 1990 in Vadheim), a Norwegian football defender with over 200 club caps