Gjesdal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgård. Other villages in Gjesdal Municipality include Dirdal, Frafjord, Gilja, Gjesdal, and Oltedal. The municipality lies about to the southwest of the city of Stavanger in southwestern Norway.

The European route E39 highway runs through the western side of the municipality. On the east side of the municipality, the Frafjord Tunnel connects the Frafjord valley with the rest of the municipality.

The municipality is the 186th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Gjesdal Municipality is the 95th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gjesdal farm () since the first Gjesdal Church was built there. The first element is probably the old name of the local river, but the meaning is uncertain. The last element is the plural form of which means "valley" or "dale".

Before 1889, the name was spelled Gjæsdal, which is the Danish spelling. During the period from 1889 to 1917 it was spelled Gjesdal (Norwegian language version). On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Gjestal. This was changed to mimic the pronunciation of the local dialect (the d in dal is pronounced t because of the voiceless consonant s in front). On 26 June 1964, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality back to Gjesdal as part of a border adjustment that was to take effect on 1 January 1965. This change in spelling was made to bring the name back to the etymologically correct form of Gjesdal.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 15 March 1985. The official blazon is "Azure, a ram's head caboshed argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the head of a ram. The ram head 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 ram was chosen as a symbol because sheep breeding and wool manufacturing have both been important throughout the history of Gjesdal. The wool industry was centered in the village of Ålgård where wool, textile, and clothing businesses have thrived. It is also an old heraldic charge, that may be found in a number of 14th century Norwegian seals. It depicts almost identical arms in a seal from 1400 of one Aslak Tordsson. The arms were designed by Kai Wood Moe after a preliminary draft by Jørgen Otteren. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has two parishes () within Gjesdal Municipality. It is part of the Jæren prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Gjesdal MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtGjesdalDirdal ChurchDirdal1903Gjesdal ChurchGjesdal1848Oltedal ChurchOltedal2002ÅlgårdÅlgård ChurchÅlgård2015Old Ålgård ChurchÅlgård1917

History The parish of Gjæsdal was established as a municipality in 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It originally was much smaller than it is today, centered on the Gjesdalen valley in the western part of the present-day municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965 several areas were merged to form a much larger Gjesdal Municipality: all of Gjesdal Municipality (population: 3,353) the Nedre Maudal area in Bjerkreim Municipality (population: 40) the Oltesvik area along the Høgsfjorden in Høle Municipality (population: 37) the southern parts of Forsand Municipality located south and east of the Frafjorden including Dirdal, Frafjord, Byrkjedal, Øvre Maudal, and Østabødal (population: 621)

On 1 January 1970, an unpopulated area of Time Municipality was transferred to Gjesdal Municipality. Then on 1 January 1989, another small, unpopulated area of Time Municipality was transferred to Gjesdal Municipality. Both of these border adjustments were to provide areas for the growing village of Ålgård to expand into.

Government Gjesdal 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 Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council () of Gjesdal Municipality 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 () of Gjesdal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1839: Jesper Tjølsen Ravndal 1840–1841: Lars Svendesen Oftedahl 1842–1843: Christian Davidson Edland 1844–1847: Lars Eriksen Berge 1848–1852: Christian Davidson Edland 1852–1853: Peder Ingebretsen Kyllingstad 1854–1860: Aadne Larsen Søiland 1861–1867: Jesper Jespersen Ravndal 1868–1877: Tore Larsen Bergen 1878–1879: Hans Svendsen Næsse 1880–1885: Jesper Jespersen Ravndal 1886–1887: Torger Johannesen Edland 1888–1889: David Olsen Lihme 1890–1893: Ole S. Aalgaard 1894–1898: Knud R. Kluge 1899–1901: Søren Arnesen 1902–1907: Knud R. Kluge 1908–1916: Sven Nilssen 1916–1919: Knud R. Kluge 1920–1931: Svein Søyland 1931–1941: Velle O. Gjesdal 1942–1943: Enevald Haga 1944–1945: Olaus Todnem 1945–1945: Velle O. Gjesdal 1946–1961: K.B. Lima 1964–1967: Ingolf Stokkeland 1968–1971: Alf Kyllingstad 1972–1975: Alf Ravndal 1976–1983: Ingolf Stokkeland 1984–1987: Rasmus Flesjå (KrF) 1988–1991: Inger Sirevåg 1992–1999: Svein K. Søyland 2000–2007: Karl Edvard Aksnes (KrF) 2008–2013: Olaug Vervik Bollestad (KrF) 2013–present: Frode Fjeldsbø (Ap)

Geography Gjesdal Municipality is located in the southern part of the Jæren district in Rogaland county. To the north and northwest, Gjesdal Municipality borders Sandnes Municipality, to the east is Sirdal Municipality (in Agder county), to the south is Bjerkreim Municipality, and to the west is Time Municipality.

Gjesdal Municipality sits at the head of the Høgsfjorden and along the south and east sides of the Frafjorden. The Månafossen waterfall, the largest waterfall in Rogaland county, is located in the Frafjord valley. There are several large lakes in the municipality such as Edlandsvatnet, Flassavatnet, Limavatnet, and Oltedalsvatnet. The Figgjoelva river has its headwaters in Gjesdal Municipality also. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Strålaus, on the border with Sandnes Municipality.

Weather

Notable people

Liv Godin (1918 in Ålgård – 2012), a Norwegian missionary who worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Finn E. Kydland (born 1943 in Søyland), an economist who was the winner of Nobel Memorial Prize in 2004 Olaug Bollestad (born 1961), a nurse and politician who was mayor of Gjesdal from 2007–2013 Dagny Mellgren (born 1978 in Ålgård), a footballer who scored the gold medal goal for Norway at the 2000 Summer Olympics Leo Moracchioli (born 1978 in Ålgård), a multi-instrumentalist heavy metal musician and producer based in Oltedal Håvard Rugland (born 1984 in Ålgård), a Norwegian American football placekicker, known as "Kickalicious"

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway