Editing Sveio (section)

==General information==
[[File:Vikebygd04.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Vikebygd area]]
[[File:Ryvarden Lighthouse - Norway.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Ryvarden Lighthouse]]
[[File:Sveio, Valen kapell.JPG|thumb|left|View of Valen Chapel]]
The municipality of Sveio was established in 1865 when the part of [[Finnås]] municipality located south of the [[Bømlafjorden]] (population: 2,227) and the [[Vikebygd (municipality)|Vikebygd]] part of the municipality of [[Fjelberg]] (population: 1,062) were joined as the new municipality of ''Sveen'' (later the spelling was changed to ''Sveio''). On 1 January 1902, the [[Vikebygd (municipality)|Vikebygd]] area (population: 1,092) was separated from Sveio to form its own municipality.<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, Sveio (population: 1,697) was merged with the neighboring municipality of [[Valestrand]] (population: 1,216), the western half of the municipality of [[Vikebygd (municipality)|Vikebygd]] (population: 471), and a small part of the municipality of [[Skjold, Rogaland|Skjold]] (population: 24). The part of Skjold was transferred from [[Rogaland]] county to Hordaland county on the same date.<ref name="Dag" />

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Sveio (village)|Sveio]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Svíða }}) since the medieval [[Sveio Church]] was built there. The name is identical with the word {{wikt-lang|non|svíða}} which means "to [[singe]]" or "to burn", referring to an area that was cleared by burning.<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 |page=106 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Sveen''. On 1 December 1911, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Sveio''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1911 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1911. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381017_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Oslo, Norway |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |page=590}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 19 February 1982. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], a [[fleur-de-lis]] cleft [[argent]]."'' ({{langx|no|På raud grunn ei kløyvd kvit lilje}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a split [[fleur-de-lis]]. 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 arms are derived from the historic arms of Jon Gauteson from Sveio, who lived around the year 1500. His family became [[Norwegian nobility]] in 1591, and he was the first in his family to use this symbol as part of his arms. The municipal arms were designed by Kolbjørn Ekkje. 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=Sveio |access-date=2023-05-24 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sveio, Hordaland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-16.html |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1982-02-19 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1982-02-19-422 |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has two parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Sveio. 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 Sveio'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Sveio||[[Sveio Church]]||[[Sveio (village)|Sveio]]||1858
|-
|rowspan="3"|Valestrand og Førde||[[Førde Church (Hordaland)|Førde Church]]||[[Førde, Hordaland|Førde]]||1938
|-
|[[Valestrand Church]]||[[Valestrand]]||1873
|-
|[[Valen Chapel]]||[[Valevåg]]||1707
|}