Aurland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aurland kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Sogn og Fjordane within Norway
Aurland within Sogn og Fjordane
Coordinates: 60°52′5″N 7°14′36″E / 60.86806, 7.24333
Country	Norway
County	Sogn og Fjordane
District	Sogn
Municipality ID	NO-1421
Administrative centre	Aurlandsvangen
Government
- Mayor (2003)	Olav Ellingsen (Sp)
Area (Nr. 54 in Norway)
- Total	1,468 km² (566.8 sq mi)
- Land	1,383 km² (534 sq mi)
Population (2004)
- Total	1,803
- Density	1/km² (2.6/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	-5.2 %
- Rank in Norway	348
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form	Nynorsk
Demonym	Aurlending[1]
Data from Statistics Norway
Website: www.aurland.kommune.no

Aurland is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway consisting of the villages of Vangen, Flåm, Undredal and Gudvangen. Aurland is located in the traditional district of Sogn.

Aurland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

Contents 1 About the Municipality 1.1 The name Aurland 1.2 Coat of arms 2 Geography 3 Key attractions 4 External links 5 References

[edit] About the Municipality

[edit] The name Aurland

The name Aurland derives from Old Norse aurr (gravel) plus land (land, district).

[edit] Coat of arms

Aurland's coat of arms is of modern origin (it was designed in 1987) and depicts a goat's head (the municipality is famed for its production of goats' cheese).

[edit] Geography

Aurland is bordered by two municipalities in Sogn og Fjordane county: (Lærdal to the north-east and Vik to the west), two municipalities in Hordaland county (Voss to the south-west and Ulvik to the south) and one municipality in Buskerud county (Hol to the south-east).

[edit] Key attractions

• The Nærøyfjord, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a branch of the large fjord Sognefjord, is located in the municipality.
• Aurlandsdalen, valley
• The Flåm Railway
• Undredal stave church (built between 1150 and 1199) is located in Undredal
• Kjelfossen (waterfall), Gudvangen
• Kjosfossen (waterfall), which you can see from the Flåm Railway.
• The Stegastein viewpoint, constructed in 2006, with a spectacular view of the surrounding fjords and valleys.
• Vangen Church, built year 1202

[edit] External links

• Aurland and Lærdal Tourist Board
• Myrdal

[edit] References

v • d • e Municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane Nordfjord Bremanger · Eid · Gloppen · Hornindal · Selje · Stryn · Vågsøy Sunnfjord Askvoll · Fjaler · Flora · Førde · Gaular · Jølster · Naustdal Sogn Aurland · Balestrand · Gulen · Hyllestad · Høyanger · Leikanger · Luster · Lærdal · Sogndal · Solund · Vik · Årdal