Bjerkreim

Bjerkreim is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vikeså. Other villages in the municipality include Bjerkreim and Øvrebygd.

Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city, Stavanger. Bjerkreim has one of the most important salmon rivers in Norway, Bjerkreimselva. The most important livelihoods are agriculture and small-scale industries.

The Template:Convert municipality is the 173rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjerkreim is the 236th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,848. The municipality's population density is Template:Convert and its population has increased by 2.5% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref>

General information

File:Indra Vinjavatnet 01.jpg

View of the lake Indra Vinjavatnet

File:Vikeså skule.jpg

Vikeså School

File:Ivesdal kapell.jpg

Ivesdal Chapel

The parish of Birkrem was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal changes in Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On that date, the Nedre Maudal area of Bjerkreim (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal.<ref name="Dag">Template:Cite book</ref>

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bjerkreim farm (Template:Langx), since the first Bjerkreim Church was built there The first element is the genitive case of Template:Wikt-lang which means "birch". The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 11 July 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a birch branch with six leaves and four catkins argent" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical branch from a birch tree which has six leaves and four catkins. 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 design was chosen since the name of the municipality is derived from the Norwegian word for birch, Template:Lang, thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:See also-text

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (Template:Lang) within the municipality of Bjerkreim. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Bjerkreim

Parish (Template:Lang)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Bjerkreim	Bjerkreim Church	Bjerkreim	1835
	Ivesdal Chapel	Øvrebygd	1876

Government

Bjerkreim 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.<ref name="ks">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal. A notable local politician is Olaf Gjedrem, mayor from 1979 to 1993 and later a member of the national parliament.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Template:Lang) of Bjerkreim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The executive committee of the council has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economic committee. The mayor of Bjerkreim leads both the council and the executive committee. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party. Template:Div col Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Div col end

Mayors

The mayors (Template:Langx) of Bjerkreim:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

• 1838–1839: Thønnis Tollefson Bjerkreim
• 1840–1841: Rasmus Rasmusson Osland
• 1842–1843: Omund Adsem
• 1844–1845: Erik Erikson Espeland
• 1846–1849: Erik A. Lauperak
• 1850–1853: Sigbjørn Hytland
• 1854–1855: Omund Adsem
• 1856–1865: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
• 1866–1869: Ole V. Sagland
• 1870–1879: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
• 1880–1881: Jonas K. Vigesaa
• 1882–1893: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
• 1894–1897: Tollef Asbjørnsen Gjedrem
• 1898–1899: Tønnes Tollefsen Bjerkrheim
• 1899–1901: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
• 1902–1904: Sem Johan Jonassen Vaule
• 1905–1919: Gitle A. Birkrem
• 1920–1922: Peder Carlson Skjæveland
• 1923–1925: Arne Gjedrem
• 1926–1934: Karl Laksesvela
• 1935–1940: Arne Gjedrem
• 1945–1947: Arne Gjedrem
• 1948–1955: Martin Veen
• 1956–1963: Karl L. Skjæveland
• 1964–1966: Martin Veen
• 1966–1975: Tolleiv Gjedrem
• 1976–1979: Lloyd Vaule
• 1980–1993: Olaf Gjedrem (KrF)
• 1994–1999: Gunnhild Vassbø
• 1999–2003: Asbjørn Gjedrem
• 2003–2007: Asbjørn Ramsli (Sp)
• 2007–2015: Marthon Skårland (H)
• 2015–2019: Torbjørn Ognedal (Sp)
• 2019–2023: Kjetil Slettebø (Sp)
• 2023-present: Tone Vaule (Ap)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Bjerkreim municipality lies at the northern end of the hilly, rugged Dalane district, just south of the very flat Jæren district. There are several large lakes in Bjerkreim including Austrumdalsvatnet, Byrkjelandsvatnet, Hofreistæ, and Ørsdalsvatnet.

Transportation

The main means of transportation to Bjerkreim is via the European route E39 highway which passes through the municipality from south to north. The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport, Stavanger airport in Sola, is approximately 40 minutes by car.

Notable people

• Knud Spødervold (1791–1848 in Bjerkreim), a lay preacher and leader of the Strong Believers religious movement
• Olaf Gjedrem (born 1948 in Bjerkreim), a politician and mayor of Bjerkreim (1979–1993)
• Ragnar Bjerkreim (born 1958 in Bjerkreim), a composer of film scores<ref>Template:IMDb name. Retrieved 19 January 2021.</ref>

External links

• Template:Wikivoyage inline
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway Template:In lang
• The River Bjerkreim (Bjerkreimselva)
• Visit the South region of Rogaland (Reisemaal Soer Vest)
• Fishing equipment