Samnanger

Samnanger is a municipality in the Midhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tysse. Other main villages in the municipality include Haga and Bjørkheim in Nordbygda. The municipality is located about 20 km east of the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. It surrounds the inner part of the Samnangerfjorden and the surrounding valleys. There are mountains that surround the municipality. The development of hydroelectric power plants started here in 1909.

The 269 km2 municipality is the 274th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Samnanger is the 251st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,495. The municipality's population density is 9.7 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 2.5% over the previous 10-year period.

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Samnanger be closed.

General information
The municipality of Samnanger was established on 1 January 1907 when it was separated from the municipality of Os. Initially, Samnanger had 3,025 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Samnangerfjorden (Samnangr) since it is a central geographic feature in the area. The first element is likely the old name for a local river, possibly derived from the word which has an unknown meaning. The last element is which means "bay" or "inlet".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 27 April 1990. The official blazon is "Gules, six gouttes Or in annulo" (På raud grunn seks gule dråpar som lagar ein sirkel). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of six gouttes (drops of water) arranged in a circle. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. Water was chosen as a symbol on the arms because of the wet climate and the source of hydroelectricity that is prevalent in the area. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Samnanger. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government
Samnanger 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 Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Samnanger 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 Samnanger:


 * 1907–1916: Nils S. Røsseland
 * 1916–1928: Knut Tvedt (V)
 * 1929–1943: Johannes Gaupholm (LL)
 * 1943–1945: Johannes Tveiterås (NS)
 * 1945–1945: Nils K. Langeland
 * 1946–1959: Ingjald Tveit (LL)
 * 1960–1963: Mons Tveit (LL)
 * 1964–1967: Martin K. Nilsen (Ap)
 * 1968–1971: Ragnvald Brigsten (KrF)
 * 1972–1975: Martin K. Nilsen (Ap)
 * 1976–1977: Knut N. Langeland (LL)
 * 1978–1979: Martin K. Nilsen (Ap)
 * 1980–1981: Knut N. Langeland (LL)
 * 1982–1991: Brynjulv Hernes (KrF)
 * 1991–1999: Brigt Olav Gåsdal (Ap)
 * 1999–2015: Marit A. Aase (KrF)
 * 2015–2023: Knut Harald Frøland (LL)
 * 2023-present: Karl Bård Kollbotn (FrP)

Geography
Samnanger lies at the inner end of the Samnangerfjorden. Bjørnafjorden Municipality lies to the south, Bergen Municipality is to the west, Vaksdal Municipality is to the north, and Kvam Municipality is to the east. Samnanger lies on the mainland of Norway, but its western parts lie on the Bergen Peninsula&mdash;a large peninsula connected to the mainland by a small isthmus of land running between Trengereid in Bergen and Trengereidfjorden in Samnanger.

The Gullfjellet mountains lie along the western border of the municipality. The mountain Sveningen lies at the tripoint border with Samnanger, Bergen, and Bjørnafjorden municipalities. The Kvamskogen mountain plateau lies along the eastern border of the municipality.

Notable people

 * Knud Langeland (1813–1886), an American editor, farmer, and politician who emigrated in 1843
 * Gustav Indrebø (1889–1942), a Norwegian philologist who was interested in toponymy
 * Jarle Høysæter (1933–2017), a Norwegian journalist who worked with NRK and Eurovision