Bjerkreim is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vikeså. Other villages in the municipality include Røysland and Øvrebygd.

Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city, Stavanger. Bjerkreim has one of the most important salmon rivers in Norway, Bjerkreimselva. The most important livelihoods are agriculture and small-scale industries.

The municipality is the 173rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Bjerkreim Municipality is the 236th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Birkrem (later spelled Bjerkreim) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Nedre Maudal area of Bjerkreim Municipality (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring Gjesdal Municipality. The boundaries have not changed since that time.

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bjerkreim farm (), since the first Bjerkreim Church was built there The first element is the genitive case of which means "birch". The last element is which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 11 July 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a birch branch with six leaves and four catkins argent" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical branch from a birch tree which has six leaves and four catkins. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen since the name of the municipality is derived from the Norwegian word for birch, , thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has one parish () within Bjerkreim Municipality. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Bjerkreim MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtBjerkreimBjerkreim ChurchRøysland1835Ivesdal ChapelØvrebygd1876

Government Bjerkreim Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council () of Bjerkreim Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The executive committee of the council has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economic committee. The mayor of Bjerkreim leads both the council and the executive committee. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors The mayor () of Bjerkreim Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1839: Thønnis Tollefsen Bjerkreim 1840–1841: Rasmus Rasmussen Osland 1842–1843: Omund Mauritsen Adsem 1844–1845: Erik Eriksen Espeland 1846–1849: Erik Adamsen Løvbræk 1850–1853: Sigbjørn Staalesen Hytland 1854–1855: Omund Mauritsen Adsem 1856–1865: Christian Larsen Kløgetvedt 1866–1869: Ole Villadsen Sagland 1870–1879: Christian Larsen Kløgetvedt 1880–1881: Jonas Knutsen Vigesaa 1882–1893: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela 1894–1897: Tollef Asbjørnsen Gjedrem 1898–1899: Tønnes Tollefsen Bjerkrheim 1899–1901: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela 1902–1904: Sem Johan Jonassen Vaule 1905–1919: Gitle A. Birkrem 1920–1922: Peder Carlson Skjæveland 1923–1925: Arne Gjedrem 1926–1934: Karl Laksesvela 1935–1940: Arne Gjedrem 1945–1947: Arne Gjedrem 1948–1955: Martin Veen 1956–1963: Karl L. Skjæveland 1964–1966: Martin Veen 1966–1975: Tolleiv Gjedrem 1976–1979: Lloyd Vaule 1980–1993: Olaf Gjedrem (KrF) 1994–1999: Gunnhild Vassbø 1999–2003: Asbjørn Gjedrem 2003–2007: Asbjørn Ramsli (Sp) 2007–2015: Marthon Skårland (H) 2015–2019: Torbjørn Ognedal (Sp) 2019–2023: Kjetil Slettebø (Sp) 2023–present: Tone Vaule (Ap)

Geography Bjerkreim Municipality lies at the northern end of the hilly, rugged Dalane district, just south of the very flat Jæren district. There are several large lakes in Bjerkreim including Austrumdalsvatnet, Birkelandsvatnet, Hofreistæ, and Ørsdalsvatnet. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Vinjakula, located on the border with Gjesdal Municipality. The Gloppedalsura skree is located on the Gjesdal-Bjerkreim border.

Gjesdal Municipality is located to the north, Sirdal Municipality (in Agder county) is located to the east, Eigersund Municipality is located to the south, Hå Municipality is located to the west, and Time Municipality is located to the northwest.

Climate

Transportation The main means of transportation to Bjerkreim is via the European route E39 highway which passes through the municipality from south to north. The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport, Stavanger airport in Sola Municipality, is approximately 40 minutes by car.

Notable people Knud Spødervold (1791–1848 in Bjerkreim), a lay preacher and leader of the Strong Believers religious movement Olaf Gjedrem (born 1948 in Bjerkreim), a politician and mayor of Bjerkreim (1979–1993) Ragnar Bjerkreim (born 1958 in Bjerkreim), a composer of film scores. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway The River Bjerkreim (Bjerkreimselva) Visit the South region of Rogaland (Reisemaal Soer Vest) Fishing equipment