Editing Kvinnherad (section)

==General information==
[[File:Halsnoey-19-k6.jpg|thumb|left|View of the [[Sæbøvik]] area]]
[[File:Halsnøy Kloster.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Halsnøy Abbey]]]]
[[File:Ænes kirke, Kvinnherad kommune, Hordaland.jpg|thumb|left|The 13th century [[Ænes Church]]]]
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of ''Qvindherred'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1907, a small area northwest of the villages of [[Ølve]] and [[Husa]] (population: 67) was transferred from neighboring [[Tysnes]] municipality to Kvinnherad. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1965, the following areas were merged into one large municipality of Kvinnherad:<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>
*All of [[Skånevik]] municipality located north of the [[Skånevikfjorden]]-[[Åkrafjorden]] and west of the [[Åkra, Hordaland|Åkra]] area (population: 1,189)
*All of [[Fjelberg]] municipality (population: 2,308)
*All of the old Kvinnherad municipality (population: 5,831)
*All of [[Varaldsøy]] municipality, except for the [[Mundheim]] area, (population: 511)

On 1 January 2013, the southwestern part of the Folgefonna peninsula (south of Kysnesstranda) was transferred from Kvinnherad to the neighboring [[Jondal]] municipality. This removed forty residents and {{convert|37.1|km2}} of land area from the municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olsen |first=Kjartan Wang |date=2011-12-08 |title=Jondal overtar Kvinnherad-bygder |url=http://www.hardanger-folkeblad.no/hfnyheiter/Jondal/article5838770.ece |access-date=2014-06-21 |publisher=Hardanger folkeblad |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old name for the area ({{langx|non|Kvinnaherað}}). The first element may be derived from the word {{lang|non|tvinnr}} which means "double", likely referring to the two rivers running through [[Rosendal, Norway|Rosendal]], the [[administrative centre]] of the municipality. The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|herað}} which means "district" or "countryside".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud5LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt |date=1910 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=11 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=16–17 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> The municipal name has been spelled several ways throughout history. Before 1889, the name was written ''Quindherred'', then in 1889 the spelling was "modernized" to ''Kvinnherred''. At that time, all municipalities in Norway were titled {{wikt-lang|no|herred}} (which was used similarly to the word "municipality"), so it was formally named ''Kvinnherred herred'', which looked a little repetitive.<ref name="NLF">{{Cite book |last=Helland |first=Amund |url=https://runeberg.org/norgeslof/12-2/0040.html |title=XII. Søndre Bergenhus Amt. Anden del |publisher=H. Aschehoug & Company |year=1921 |series=Norges land og folk |location=Kristiania, Norway |page=30 |language=no |chapter=Kvinnherred herred |accessdate=2023-11-27}}</ref> On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Kvinnherad''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 18 June 1982. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Argent]], a [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] wavy [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]]"'' ({{langx|no|På kvit grunn ein blå gaffelkross laga med bølgjesnitt}}). This means the arms have a [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) 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 [[ordinary (heraldry)|ordinary]] is a [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] with wavy edges. The design of the arms show the [[confluence]] of two blue rivers into one on a white or silver background. The rivers symbolize the many [[stream]]s and [[river]]s in the municipality, especially the Hattebergselvi and the Melselvi, that come together just before they run into the sea at [[Rosendal, Norway|Rosendal]]. The arms were designed by Truls Nygaard, after a proposal by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Kvinnherad |access-date=2023-05-24 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kvinnherad, Hordaland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-24.html |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1982-08-16 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1982-06-18-1092 |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

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

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Kvinnherad'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="2"|Fjelberg og Eid||[[Eid Church (Kvinnherad)|Eid Church]]||[[Eidsvik, Hordaland|Eidsvik]]||1824
|-
|[[Fjelberg Church]]||[[Fjelbergøya]]||1722
|-
|rowspan="1"|Hatlestrand||[[Hatlestrand Church]]||[[Hatlestrand]]||1885
|-
|rowspan="3"|Husnes og Holmedal||[[Holmedal Church (Hordaland)|Holmedal Church]]||[[Utåker]]||1815
|-
|[[Husnes Church]]||[[Husnes]]||1874
|-
|[[Valen Church]]||[[Valen, Kvinnherad|Valen]]||1978
|-
|rowspan="1"|Kvinnherad||[[Kvinnherad Church]]||[[Rosendal, Norway|Rosendal]]||c. 1250
|-
|rowspan="1"|Uskedalen||[[Uskedalen Church]]||[[Uskedal]]||1914
|-
|rowspan="1"|Varaldsøy||[[Varaldsøy Church]]||[[Varaldsøy]]||1885
|-
|rowspan="1"|Ænes||[[Ænes Church]]||[[Ænes]]||c. 1200
|-
|rowspan="1"|Ølve||[[Ølve Church]]||[[Ølve]]||1861
|-
|rowspan="1"|Åkra||[[Åkra Church (Hordaland)|Åkra Church]]||[[Åkra, Hordaland|Åkra]]||1735
|}