Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 247-square-kilometre (95 sq mi) municipality is the 305th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Jondal is the 386th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,108. The municipality's population density is 4.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (12/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.9% over the last decade.[4]
In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Jondal be closed.[5]
General information
View of JondalVillage of Jondal, with the church in the back
The municipality of Jondal was established on 1 January 1863 when it was separated from the large municipality of Strandebarm. Initially, Jondal had a population of 1,663.[6]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, there were two changes that effected Jondal municipality: the part of Jondal located on the northwestern side of the Hardangerfjorden (population: 515) was transferred to Kvam Municipality and the Kysnesstranda area of Strandebarm municipality (population: 100) was transferred to Jondal.[6]
Then on 1 January 2013, the southwestern part of the Folgefonna peninsula (south of Kysnesstranda) was transferred to Jondal from the neighboring Kvinnherad Municipality. This added forty new residents and 37.1 square kilometres (14.3 sq mi) of land area to the municipality.[7]
On 1 January 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of Jondal, Odda, and Ullensvang were merged. The new municipality was named Ullensvang and its administrative centre is the town of Odda.[8]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Jondalen valley (Old Norse: Jónardalr) which runs through the municipality and it is where the village of Jondal is located. The first element is an old river name Jón (now called Jondalselvi). The meaning of the river name is unknown. The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".[9]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 27 November 1987 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Gules, three boathooks bendwise issuant from sinister base Or" (Norwegian: På raud grunn tre skrått framveksande gule båtshaker). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of three boat hookss lined up diagonally. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. This design was chosen to symbolise the importance of sailing and shipping along the Hardangerfjord. Historically, Jondal has been known for its shipyards and sailing college. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[10][11][12]
Jondal was located on the southeast side of the Hardangerfjorden on the Folgefonna peninsula. It was bounded by the large Folgefonna glacier to the southeast (inside Folgefonna National Park). The lake Juklavatnet was located on the municipal border with Kvinnherad. The 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) long tunnel runs under the glacier from Jondal to Mauranger in Kvinnherad.
Note: The municipal borders were changed in 1965 and 2013, causing a significant change in the population. Source: Statistics Norway[14][15] and Norwegian Historical Data Centre[16]
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Jondal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
