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Kvam

Kvam herad
Municipality
Norheimsund i Kvam.JPG
Coat of arms of Kvam herad
Coat of arms
Official logo of Kvam herad
Hordaland within
Norway
Kvam within Hordaland
Kvam within Hordaland
Coordinates: 60°22′12″N 06°08′38″E / 60.37000°N 6.14389°E / 60.37000; 6.14389Coordinates: 60°22′12″N 06°08′38″E / 60.37000°N 6.14389°E / 60.37000; 6.14389
Country Norway
County Hordaland
District Hardanger
Administrative centre Norheimsund
Government
 • Mayor (2015) Jostein Ljones (Sp)
Area
 • Total 616.47 km2 (238.02 sq mi)
 • Land 580.90 km2 (224.29 sq mi)
 • Water 35.57 km2 (13.73 sq mi)
Area rank 180 in Norway
Population (2014)
 • Total 8,584
 • Rank 122 in Norway
 • Density 14.8/km2 (38/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 2.3 %
Demonym(s) Kvemming, kvemmingen, kvemmingar, kvemmingane
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1238
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.kvam.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Kvam is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settlements in the municipality include Øystese, Bru, Ålvik, Tørvikbygd, Omastranda, and Mundheim. The largest settlement in the municipality is the Norheimsund/Øystese urban area which has a population (2013) of 4,291. Historically, the municipality was named Vikør.

The Old Norse form of the name was Hvammr, identical with the word hvammr which means "(small) valley", possibly referring the Steinsdalen valley west of Norheimsund. Before 1912, the municipality was named Vikør, which comes from the Old Norse word Vikøyar. It was the name of the farm on which the old Vikøy Church was located.

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 27 November 1981. The blue and silver arms are designed to look like the Fyksesund, a narrow fjord in the municipality. The shape of the fjord is that it is narrower in the middle and this is symbolized in the design of the coat-of-arms.

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Kvam. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.


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