Editing Gulen (municipality) (section)

==General information==
[[File:Steinkorset ved porten til Eivindvik kirke.jpg|thumb|left|One of the stone crosses near Eivindvik]]
[[File:Gulen.2 119.jpg|thumb|left|View of the lake [[Dingevatn]]]]
[[File:2010 10 20 Gulen Byrkjenes 068.jpg|thumb|left|View of some old boathouses near Byrknes (photo: Frode Inge Helland)]]
''Evindvig'' was established as a [[List of municipalities of Norway|municipality]] on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). The municipality of 1838 was created to be identical to the Evindvig [[Church of Norway|parish]] ''([[prestegjeld]])'' that included the three sub-parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) of [[Eivindvik|Evindvig]], [[Brekke]], and [[Solund|Husøy]]. The sub-parish of [[Brekke]] (population: 898) was separated from the municipality in 1850 to form a municipality of its own, leaving a total of 3,944 residents in Evindvig. (Later, Brekke was merged with [[Lavik]] as the municipality of [[Lavik og Brekke]]. This was short-lived and Brekke later became a separate municipality once again.)  In 1858, the sub-parish of [[Solund|Husøy]] (population: 1,384) was separated from Evindvig to form its own municipality called ''Utvær'' (renamed [[Solund]] in 1923). This left Evindvig with 3,018 inhabitants. On 1 July 1890, the name of Evindvig municipality was officially changed to Gulen.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of [[Brekke]] (population: 782) was merged (back) with Gulen. Also on that same date, the island of [[Losna (island)|Losna]] (population: 40) was transferred from Gulen to the neighboring municipality of [[Solund]]. After these changes, Gulen had a population of 3,250.<ref name="Dag" /><ref name="em">{{Cite web |last=Natvik |first=Oddvar |date=9 February 2005 |title=Some historical data on the 26 Kommunes |url=http://www.emigration.no/sff/emigration3.nsf/0/326D0346278A5909C1256F570048962C?OpenDocument |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613141425/http://www.emigration.no/sff/emigration3.nsf/0/326D0346278A5909C1256F570048962C?OpenDocument |archive-date=13 June 2008 |access-date=3 June 2008}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created [[Vestland]] county after [[Sogn og Fjordane]] and [[Hordaland]] counties were merged.

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) was originally named after the old ''[[Eivindvik|Evindvig]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Eyvindarvík}}, now spelled [[Eivindvik]]) since the first [[Gulen Church|Evindvig Church]] was built there. The first element is derived from the male name {{lang|non|Eyvindr}}. The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|vík}} which means "small [[bay]]", "[[cove]]", or "[[inlet]]". In 1891, the municipal name was changed to ''Gulen'' ({{langx|non|Guli}}) which was the original name of the local [[Gulafjorden]]. The name is probably derived from the word {{lang|non|gul}} which means "(strong) wind" or "[[gale]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN1LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt |date=1919 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=12 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=190–195 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 9 February 1990. The official [[blazon]] is ''"Azure, two [[Latin cross]]es [[Cross formée|formée]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|På blå grunn to utbøygde sølv krossar}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a set of two [[Latin cross]]es that are designed as a [[cross formée]]. The charge has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The crosses represent the two stone crosses found near the village of [[Eivindvik]] that are believed to be about 1000 years old, erected there in 1023 after the [[Viking]]s who met at the [[Gulating]] gathering embraced [[Christianity]]. These are some of the oldest monuments to Christianity still existing in Norway. One of the crosses was damaged by a falling tree in 2012. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 April 2023 |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Gulen |access-date=2023-05-15 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gulen, Sogn og Fjordane (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-14-11.html |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1990-02-09 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1990-02-09-53 |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has three parishes({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Gulen. It is part of the [[Nordhordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Gulen'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Brekke||[[Brekke Church]]||[[Brekke (village)|Brekke]]||1862
|-
|Gulen||[[Gulen Church]]||[[Eivindvik]]||1863
|-
|Mjømna||[[Mjømna Church]]||[[Mjømna]]||1901
|}

===Schools===
The roughly 2,500 residents live scattered throughout the municipality and are divided into four school districts: [[Brekke (village)|Brekke]], [[Eivindvik]], [[Dalsøyra]], and [[Byrknes]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skular i Gulen kommune |url=http://www.scandion.no/sognogfjordane/gulen/skular/1.html |access-date=3 August 2008 |publisher=Scandion.no |language=no}}</ref>