Suldal

Suldal is a municipality in the northeast corner of Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. Since 1965, the administrative centre of Suldal is the village of Sand i Ryfylke (prior to that it was the village of Suldalsosen). Other villages in Suldal include Haugsland, Jelsa, Marvik, Nesflaten, and Suldalsosen.

The 1737 km2 municipality is the 46th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Suldal is the 210th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,815. The municipality's population density is 2.4 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 1.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The parish of Suledal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1842, the northern district of the municipality (population: 1,584) was separated to become the new municipality of Søvde. This left Suldal with 2,030 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Suldal (population: 1,412) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Sand (population: 1,135) and Erfjord (population: 610) as well as all of the municipality of Jelsa except for the parts on the island of Ombo (population: 928) and the parts of Imsland municipality located south of the Vindafjorden (population: 61). On 1 January 1978, the parts of Vindafjord Municipality located southeast of the Vindafjorden on the Ropeid peninsula (population: 13) was transferred to Suldal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Suledalen valley (Súladalr) since it was a central geographical feature of the municipality. The first element is the plural genitive case of which means "pillar" or "column" (likely referring to the mountain pass Suldalsporten). The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". Before 1891, the name was written "Suledal".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 11 March 1976. The official blazon is "Gules, three bendlets wavy Or" (I raudt ein gull bølgjeforma trillingstreng, skråstilt høgre venstre). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of the three diagonal wavy lins. 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. The lines represent the local river Suldalslågen which runs through the municipality. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. 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 Suldal. It is part of the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

History
The area that is now Suldal municipality has a long history of trade connections to the nearby valley regions to the north and east. The main mountain plateau trade route led east from Suldal municipality over the plateau to the nearby Setesdal valley in Bykle municipality in Agder county. Another route led north from Suldal in Rogaland county through the Røldal area in Vestland county, and then east into Vinje municipality in Telemark county. There has also been found Viking artefacts and graves in Suldal.

Geography
At 1736 km2, Suldal is the largest municipality in Rogaland county. The municipality borders three counties: Vestland (north), Telemark (northeast), and Agder (east). To the north, Suldal is bordered by Sauda and Ullensvang municipalities, in the east by Vinje and Bykle, in the south by Hjelmeland, and in the west by Vindafjord. Across the Jelsafjorden and Vindafjorden lie the municipalities of Stavanger and Tysvær.

The mountain Kistenuten is located at the triple border point of Rogaland, Vestland and Telemark. Other mountains in Suldal are Vassdalseggi, the highest mountain in Rogaland, Trollaskeinuten, Snønuten, Mælen, Knoda, Fitjanuten, Leirnuten, Kaldafjellet, Simlenuten, Steinkilenuten, and Raudberga, all reaching above 1400 m m.a.s.l.

The Sandsfjorden and Hylsfjorden lie within Suldal, as does lake Suldalsvatnet. The Saudafjorden lies partially within the boundary of Suldal. The Erfjorden and the lakes Blåsjø, Holmavatnet, and Holmevatnet also lie on the boundary of Suldal.

Economy
The Ulla-Førre project of building huge hydroelectric dams in the mountains was initiated in the 1960s. At times, the project employed over a thousand people. The finished hydroelectric complex has a total capacity of approximately 2100 MW and produces about 4.8 TWh yearly.

Government
Suldal 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 Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Suldal is made up of 19 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 (ordfører) of Suldal (incomplete list):


 * 1838-1845: Lars Olsson Kolbeinstveit
 * 1850-1855: Lars Olsson Kolbeinstveit
 * 1856-1859: Njeld Larsen Kolbenstvedt (V)
 * 1860-1861: Lars Olsson Kolbeinstveit
 * 1862-1863: Njeld Larsen Kolbenstvedt (V)
 * 1866-1869: Njeld Larsen Kolbenstvedt (V)
 * 1876-1880: Njeld Larsen Kolbenstvedt (V)
 * 1886-1889: Ole Osmundsson Berge (V)
 * 1981-1992: Halvard Bakka (Sp)
 * 1992-1998: Torkel Myklebust (Sp)
 * 1998-2000: Eldbjørg Sivertsen (KrF)
 * 2000-2003: Roar Obrestad (KrF)
 * 2003-2007: Andreas Drarvik (Sp)
 * 2007-2015: Torkel Myklebust (Sp)
 * 2015-2023: Gerd Helen Bø (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Mads Drange (Ap)



Notable people

 * Rasmus Løland (1861 at Ryfylke – 1907), a journalist, novelist, and children's writer
 * Trygve Fjetland (1926 in Jelsa – 2013), a businessperson
 * Hilde Sandvik (born 1970 in Erfjord), a journalist
 * Inger Bråtveit (born 1978), a novelist and children's writer who grew up in Suldal