Eigersund

Eigersund kommune

County	Rogaland
District	Dalane
Municipality	NO-1101
Administrative centre	Egersund
Mayor (2007)	Terje Jørgensen Jr.(H)
Official language form	Bokmål
Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage	Ranked 228 432 km² 387 km² 0.13 %
Population  - Total (2004)  - Percentage  - Change (10 years)  - Density	Ranked 78 13,388 0.29 % 5.2 % 35/km²
Demonym	Eigersunder[1]
Coordinates	58°28′N 6°3′E / 58.467, 6.05Coordinates: 58°28′N 6°3′E / 58.467, 6.05
www.eigersund.kommune.no Data from Statistics Norway

Eigersund is a municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway. Eigersund was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Ogna was separated from Eigersund in 1839. Helleland, and the town of Egersund, was merged with Eigersund January 1, 1965. Eigersund extends from the North Sea coast to the border of Vest-Agder. It borders Hå in the north, Sokndal in the south. The municipality is centered on the town Egersund, and includes the island Eigerøya. The landscape includes a lot of rivers and seas, as well as woods. The town itself is mostly industrial. The lakes Eiavatnet and Teksevatnet lie in the municipality.

The name

The Norse form of the name was Eikundarsund. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the island Eikund (now Eigerøya), the last element is sund n 'strait, sound'. The first element in the name of the island is eik f 'oak', the last element is the suffix -und, with the meaning 'plentyful of' (i.e. 'the island covered with oak-trees'). The form without the diphthong [ei] (Egersund) is the Danish form of the name, still preserved in the name of the town Egersund.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1972). It shows a leaf of oak.

History

The place is mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's writings. Later, Christian IV set up a battery there.