Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 247-square-kilometre (95 sq mi) municipality is the 305th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Jondal is the 386th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,108. The municipality'spopulation density is 4.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (12/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.9% over the last decade.[4]
In 2016, the chief of police forVestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Jondal be closed.[5]
View of JondalVillage of Jondal, with the church in the back
The municipality of Jondal was established on 1 January 1863 when it was separated from the large municipality ofStrandebarm. Initially, Jondal had a population of 1,663.[6]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of theSchei Committee. On 1 January 1965, there were two changes that effected Jondal municipality: the part of Jondal located on the northwestern side of theHardangerfjorden (population: 515) was transferred toKvam Municipality and theKysnesstranda area ofStrandebarm municipality (population: 100) was transferred to Jondal.[6]
Then on 1 January 2013, the southwestern part of the Folgefonna peninsula (south of Kysnesstranda) was transferred to Jondal from the neighboringKvinnherad Municipality. This added forty new residents and 37.1 square kilometres (14.3 sq mi) of land area to the municipality.[7]
On 1 January 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of Jondal,Odda, andUllensvang were merged. The new municipality was namedUllensvang and itsadministrative centre is the town ofOdda.[8]
The municipality (originally theparish) is named after the Jondalen valley (Old Norse:Jónardalr) which runs through the municipality and it is where thevillage of Jondal is located. The first element is an old river nameJón (now calledJondalselvi). The meaning of the river name is unknown. The last element isdalr which means "valley" or "dale".[9]
Thecoat of arms was granted on 27 November 1987 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The officialblazon is"Gules, three boathooksbendwise issuant fromsinister baseOr" (Norwegian:På raud grunn tre skrått framveksande gule båtshaker). This means the arms have a redfield (background) and thecharge is a set of threeboat hookss lined up diagonally. The charge has atincture ofOr which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. This design was chosen to symbolise the importance of sailing and shipping along theHardangerfjord. Historically, Jondal has been known for its shipyards and sailing college. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[10][11][12]
Jondal was located on the southeast side of theHardangerfjorden on the Folgefonna peninsula. It was bounded by the largeFolgefonna glacier to the southeast (insideFolgefonna National Park). The lakeJuklavatnet was located on the municipal border withKvinnherad. The 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) long tunnel runs under the glacier from Jondal toMauranger in Kvinnherad.
Note: The municipal borders were changed in 1965 and 2013, causing a significant change in the population. Source:Statistics Norway[14][15] and Norwegian Historical Data Centre[16]
Themunicipal council(Kommunestyre) of Jondal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. Theparty breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: