Sogn

For other uses, seeSogn (disambiguation).

Sogn
District
Hafslovatnet with Sognefjord behind
Districts of Vestland: Nordfjord Sunnfjord Inner Sogn Outer Sogn Nordhordland Midthordland Sunnhordland Hardanger Voss
Country	Norway
County	Vestland
Region	Vestlandet
Adm. Center	Hermansverk
Area
• Total	10,675 km2(4,122 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	38,858
• Density	3.6/km2(9.4/sq mi)
Demonym	Sogning

Sognis atraditional districtinWestern Norway(Vestlandet). It is located in thecountyofVestland,surrounding theSognefjord,the largest/longestfjordinNorway.The district of Sogn consists of themunicipalitiesofAurland,Balestrand,Hyllestad,Høyanger,Gulen,Leikanger,Luster,Lærdal,Sogndal,Solund,Vik,andÅrdal.The district covers 10,675 square kilometres (4,122 sq mi) and contains about 35% of the county's population. The largest urban area in Sogn is the village ofSogndalsfjøra(in Sogndal municipality), with 3,455 residents. The second largest urban area is the villageØvre Årdal(in Årdal municipality), with 3,397 people (this village used to be the largest, but recently it was passed by Sogndalsfjøra).

The district of Sogn comprises the southern part of the former countySogn og Fjordane.The districts ofSunnfjordandNordfjordare the other two districts in the county.

Etymology

Shore community in Sogn, Norway.

The nameSognderived from the name ofSognefjord. The name of the fjord is from the root ofsúga"to suck", referring to the strong tidal streams at the mouth of the fjord. An old name for the district isSygnafylki.The first element in this name is thegenitive ofsygnirwhich means "people from Sogn" and the last element isfylki"county".

History

Sogndalsfjorden and Barsnesfjorden.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1769	19,366	—
1951	41,846	+116.1%
1960	40,558	−3.1%
1970	40,254	−0.7%
1980	39,689	−1.4%
1990	38,996	−1.7%
2000	37,841	−3.0%
2010	36,511	−3.5%
2020	36,232	−0.8%
2030	36,773	+1.5%
Source:Statistics Norway.

Viking Age

Since early in theViking Age,Sogn was apetty kingdomcalledSygnafylki.Some notable Kings of Sogn were Harald Gullskjegg ( "Goldbeard", father of Ragnhild, first wife of Halfdan the Black),Halfdan the Black,andHarald Fairhair.

1662-present

In 1662,Sogn fogderiwas created as part of theNordre Bergenhus amt(county). Sogn was further divided intoIndre Sogn(Inner Sogn) andYtre Sogn(Outer Sogn).

• Indre Sognconsisted of the inner half of the district which included the present day municipalities ofAurland,Leikanger,Luster,Lærdal,Sogndal,andÅrdal.The village ofSogndalsfjørawas the administrative center.
• Ytre Sognconsisted of the present day municipalities ofBalestrand,Gulen,Hyllestad,Høyanger,Solund,andVik.The village ofHøyangerwas the administrative center.

In 1919,Nordre Bergenhus amtwas renamedSogn og Fjordanefylke.