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Hordaland

Hordaland fylke
County
Hordaland Hardangerfjord 05.JPG
Coat of arms of Hordaland fylke
Coat of arms
Hordaland within Norway
Hordaland within Norway
Coordinates: 60°15′N 06°00′E / 60.250°N 6.000°E / 60.250; 6.000Coordinates: 60°15′N 06°00′E / 60.250°N 6.000°E / 60.250; 6.000
Country Norway
County Hordaland
Region Vestlandet
County ID NO-12
Administrative centre Bergen
Government
 • Governor Lars Sponheim
  Venstre
  (2010–present)
 • County mayor Torill Selsvold Nyborg
  Kristelig Folkeparti
  (2003–present)
Area
 • Total 15,460 km2 (5,970 sq mi)
 • Land 14,551 km2 (5,618 sq mi)
Area rank #9 in Norway, 4.78% of Norway's land area
Population (March 17, 2017 est.)
 • Total 516,100
 • Rank 3 (9.72% of country)
 • Density 33/km2 (86/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 7.9 %
Demonym(s) Hordalending
Time zone CET (UTC+01)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+02)
Official language form Nynorsk
Income (per capita) (EUR 18,500) 148,000 NOK
GDP (per capita) (EUR 33,000) 263,000 NOK (2001)
GDP national rank 2 (7.55% of country)
Website www.hordaland.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Hordaland [ˈhɔrdɑˈlɑn]  (listen) is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county government is the Hordaland County Municipality which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county apart from Hordaland.

Hordaland (Old Norse: Hǫrðaland) is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The first element is the plural genitive case of hǫrðar, the name of an old Germanic tribe (see Charudes). The last element is land which means "land" or "region" in the Norwegian language.

Until 1919 the name of the county was Søndre Bergenhus amt which meant "(the) southern (part of) Bergenhus amt". (The old Bergenhus amt was created in 1662 and was divided into Northern and Southern parts in 1763.)

The flag of Hordaland shows two golden axes and a crown in red. The flag is a banner of the coat of arms derived from the old seal of the guild of St. Olav from Onarheim in Tysnes municipality. This seal was used by the delegates of Sunnhordland in 1344 on the document to install king Haakon V of Norway. It was thus the oldest symbol used for the region and adapted as the arms and flag in 1961. The symbols refer to the patron saint of the guild, Saint Olav, King of Norway, whose symbol is an axe.


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