Sogndal, Rogaland
Encyclopedia
Rogaland
is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
county, Norway, lying in the traditional district
Districts of Norway
The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...
of Dalane
Dalane
Dalane is a traditional district in the south-western part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway....
. It was comprised by the two harbor villages Sogndalsstrand and Rægefjord. The Sogndalselva which drains the Sogndal reaches the ocean at Rægefjord.
History
The Kielland family, from which Alexander KiellandAlexander Kielland
Alexander Lange Kielland was one of the most famous Norwegian realistic writers of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called "The Four Greats" in Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Jonas Lie.-Background:Born in Stavanger, Norway, he grew up in a rich...
descended, left Sogndal in 1751 and established a successful firm in Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. The Kielland farm can still be found there. As is typical of older records, this same farm entered the records under a number of phonetically similar names: Kollandt in 1563, Kieldeland in 1567, Kuelandt in 1567, Tielland in 1610, Kielland in 1616, Kiedland in 1668 and finally fixing on Kielland since 1723.
Sogndal got ladested rights in 1798, and became a municipality of its own following a split from Sokndal
Sokndal
Sokndal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Dalane.The parish of Soggendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...
in 1845. At that time Sogndal had a population of 348 while Sokndal had a population of 2,819. In 1875 the population of Sogndal had grown to 526, but decreased to 473 in 1885.
On 1 July 1944 Sogndal was reunited with Sokndal municipality, losing its small seaport status. Prior to the merger Sogndal had a population of 311.