The 113-square-kilometre (44 sq mi) municipality is the 324th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Klepp is the 63rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 20,615. The municipality's population density is 201.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (522/sq mi) and its population has increased by 13.1% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6] The population around Kleppe is growing rapidly, mostly in the form of suburban single-family homes, but also in the form of some apartment blocks. There is a shopping mall in Kleppe called Jærhagen.
General information
View of KleppView of the agricultural landscape of Klepp
The old parish of Klep was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The boundaries of the municipality have not changed since that time.[7]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Klepp farm (Old Norse: Kleppi) since the first Klepp Church was built there. The name is the dative case of the word kleppr which means "rocky hill". The inscription on the Klepp I Runestone indicates that the name has been in use since the late 10th or early 11th century. Before 1912, the name was written "Klep".[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 18 February 1972. The official blazon is "Azure, a Cossack crossOr" (Norwegian: På blå botn ein svevande, utskrådd gul kross). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a Cossack cross. 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. The cross on the arms symbolizes the large stone cross at Krosshaug in Klepp. Krosshaug is a grave hill located near the site where the local thing met for centuries. The Old Norse word haugr means "mound", hence the name "kross-haug" is the cross-mound. The cross was considered a representative historic symbol for the municipality. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
**Note: Frøyland og Orstad parish covers part of Klepp municipality and part of Time municipality.
History
The earliest traces of population in the municipality have been dated to around 6000 BC. At that time, the land was covered by large oak woods. The large stone cross standing on the grave hill Krosshaug dates from around 1000 AD and is possibly the oldest in Norway. It is adjacent to Tinghaug, the site for a local Thing for many centuries during the Iron Age. Tinghaug probably acted as a site for the local court and assembly for many centuries.
The municipality is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the city of Stavanger. Neighbouring municipalities are Hå to the south, Time to the south and east, Sola and Sandnes to the north. The coastline is agricultural and consists of, from south to north, the areas Orre, Reve, Bore and Sele.
The long Orrestranda beach, one of the longest sandy beaches in Norway, is in Klepp. The river Figgjoelva empties into the North Sea in Klepp. The small island of Feistein lies off shore and is the site of the Feistein Lighthouse. There are two large lakes in Klepp: Orrevatnet and Frøylandsvatnet.
Klepp is the second largest agricultural municipality in Rogaland, with a total of around 600 farms. Kverneland Group, located in Kvernaland, is the largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment in the world.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Klepp is made up of 31 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
