Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal population lives. The other major population centre in the municipality is the village of Øvre Eidfjord.

Quick Facts Country, County ...

Eidfjord Municipality Eidfjord kommune
Municipality
View of the Måbødalen valley
Flag Coat of arms
Vestland within Norway
Eidfjord within Vestland
Coordinates: 60°26′06″N 07°16′38″E
Country	Norway
County	Vestland
District	Hardanger
Established	1 Jan 1891
• Preceded by	Ulvik Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Ullensvang Municipality
Re-established	1 Jan 1977
• Preceded by	Ullensvang Municipality
Administrative centre	Eidfjord
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Timo Knoch (Ap)
Area
• Total	1,498.25 km2 (578.48 sq mi)
• Land	1,388.67 km2 (536.17 sq mi)
• Water	109.57 km2 (42.31 sq mi)  7.3%
• Rank	#57 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	962
• Rank	#337 in Norway
• Density	0.7/km2 (2/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+1.1%
Demonym	Eidfjøre[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4619[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Close

Eidfjord is situated at the end of the Eid Fjord, an inner branch of the large Hardangerfjorden. The village of Eidfjord is a major cruise ship port of call. Eidfjord has several tourist sites, like the Sima Power Plant which is built into the mountain itself, the Måbødalen valley, and the Vøringsfossen waterfall which has a free fall of 182 metres (597 ft). Large parts of the Hardangervidda (Europe's largest mountain plateau) are located in Eidfjord. The Hardangervidda Natursenter, a visitors centre and museum for Hardangervidda National Park, is located in Øvre Eidfjord.

The 1,498-square-kilometre (578 sq mi) municipality is the 57th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eidfjord is the 337th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 962. The municipality's population density is 0.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.8/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.1% over the previous 10-year period.^[4][5]

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Ullensvang og Eidfjord be closed.^[6]

The parish of Graven (later spelled "Granvin") was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). This large municipality/parish included two annexes: Ulvik and Eidfjord. On 1 January 1859, Ulvik became the main parish, making Granvin and Eidfjord annexes to Ulvik, and the name of the large municipality was changed from Graven to Ulvik.^[7]

On 1 May 1891, the municipality of Ulvik was divided into three separate municipalities: the eastern part became the municipality of Graven (population: 1,331) and the southeastern part became the new municipality of Eidfjord (population: 1,018). This left Ulvik as a much smaller municipality. In 1895, a small part of Eidfjord (population: 3) was transferred back to Ulvik.^[7]

Eidfjord existed as a municipality from 1891 until 1964 when a major municipal merger took place as a result of municipal reform in Norway due to the Schei Committee. The municipality of Eidfjord (population: 983), most of the municipality of Kinsarvik (population: 1,513), and the municipality of Ullensvang (population: 2,358) were all merged into one large municipality that was named Ullensvang. This merger was not well-liked by the population of Eidsfjord, and so on 1 January 1977, part of the merger was undone, and the area of the "old" Eidfjord municipality (population: 1,223) was separated to form its own municipality once again.^[8][7]

On 1 January 2022, the roughly 7-square-kilometre (2.7 sq mi) Ytre Bu area of Ullensvang Municipality (population: 24) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Eidfjord.^[9][10]

Eidfjord municipality sits at the innermost part of the Hardangerfjorden and it stretches inland to include part of the vast Hardangervidda plateau. Part of the Hardangervidda National Park lies in the municipality. Eidfjord municipality borders Ullensvang Municipality to the southwest, the municipalities of Nore og Uvdal and Hol (both in Buskerud county) to the east, and Ulvik Municipality to the north.

Eidfjord municipality begins at sea level along the fjord, the valleys leading away from the fjord are surrounded by high mountains which lead up to the alpine plateau called Hardangervidda. The Måbødalen valley is a narrow valley that leads upland to the Vøringfossen waterfall. There are several lakes in Eidfjord including Eidfjordvatnet, Nordmannslågen, and Sysenvatnet. The lakes Halnefjorden, Skaupsjøen, and Tinnhølen are all partially located in Eidfjord. The Hardangerjøkulen glacier is partially located in northern Eidfjord.

The parish of Eidfjord was very special because it belonged to the Bishop of Stavanger (and not the Bishop of Bergen as all the other parishes in present-day Vestland county) from 1125 until 1630. The Ancient Diocese of Stavanger was created out of the Ancient Diocese of Bergen and it included all of present-day Rogaland and Agder counties, plus the districts of Hallingdal in Buskerud county and Valdres in Innlandet county, and the parishes of Røldal and Eidfjord in Vestland county. The reason for including Eidfjord was that the regions of Hallingdal and Valdres belonged to the bishop of Stavanger and the easiest way to reach them from Stavanger was by sailing up the Hardangerfjord to Eidfjord, and then traveling over the Hardangervidda plateau to Hallingdal and Valdres.

Eidfjord 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.^[17] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

• Nils Bergslien (1853–1928), a Norwegian illustrator, painter and sculptor who lived and worked in Eidfjord
• Benedicte Maurseth (born 1983 in Eidfjord), a Norwegian traditional folk singer and musician

• Fossli Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada (named after a village in Eidfjord)