Sandnes

Map of the Stavanger/Sandnes region

View of the village of Hommersåk

The small port village of Sandnes was granted ladested (small seaport city) status in 1860. On 6 April 1861, the small city was separated from the municipality of Høyland to form a separate self-governing municipality of its own. Initially, the municipality had 440 residents. On 1 July 1957, a small part of Høyland municipality (population: 18) was transferred to the city of Sandnes.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the city of Sandnes (population: 3,961) was merged with the municipality of Høyland (population: 20,353) and parts of the municipalities of Høle (population: 926) and Hetland (population: 2,077).[4]

During 2014 the Storting decided that the number of municipalities in Norway has to be lowered. If the municipalities of Sandnes, Stavanger and Sola merge, a new municipality would be formed called Nord-Jæren, after the name of the geographical location the munincipalities are located on. After the city council said no to merging, proposals for Forsand merging with Sandnes were enacted instead.

On 1 January 2017, a small 350-decare (86-acre) area on the southwestern edge of the village of Solakrossen was transferred from Sandnes municipality to the neighboring municipality of Sola.[5]

On 1 January 2020, most of the neighboring municipality of Forsand was merged with Sandnes to form one large municipality called Sandnes.[6]

The municipality lies in the Jæren region and stretches 90 kilometres (56 mi) nearly from the west coast of Norway to the rugged mountainous interior. The city of Sandnes is located at the base of the Stavanger Peninsula, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the city of Stavanger, and these two cities have expanded so as to form a conurbation. The municipality of Sola is located to the west, Klepp and Time, Gjesdal to the south, Sirdal and Bykle to the east, Strand and Hjelmeland to the northeast, and Stavanger to the northwest. The fjord Gandsfjorden is situated north–south at the west end of the municipality and the Høgsfjorden and Lysefjorden dominate the eastern part of the municipality. The international airport for Sandnes/Stavanger is situated in Sola, just to the west of Sandnes.

Prior to 2020 (when the municipality was enlarged), the city-municipality of Sandnes was divided into 13 boroughs: Austrått, Figgjo, Ganddal, Hana, Høle, Lura, Malmheim og Soma, Riska, Sandved, Stangeland, Sviland, and Trones og Sentrum.

The landscape of western Sandnes is quite flat. On the long west coast there are several beaches and further inland the land is raised to form low plains with some small peaks rising up to 400 to 500 metres (1,300 to 1,600 ft) above sea level. From Stavanger and Sandnes it is approximately one hour by car to alpine and skiing resorts. In Sandnes there are some easily accessible small mountain peaks, such as Dalsnuten and Lifjell, with a view over the Sandnes/Stavanger area. The renowned Lysefjorden is also easily accessible by car or boat. The lake Frøylandsvatnet, the river Figgjoelva, and the mountain Hanafjellet are all located in Sandnes.

The Lysefjorden in the eastern part of the municipality is surrounded by very steep 1,000-metre (3,300 ft) tall cliffs such as Kjerag and Preikestolen, with the Lysefjord Bridge crossing the fjord near the western end. The famous Kjeragbolten boulder and Kjeragfossen waterfall are located along the inner part of the fjord. The village of Lysebotn lies at the eastern end of the fjord. The lake Nilsebuvatnet is located high up in the mountains, north of Lysebotn on the border of Strand and Forsand municipalities. It is regulated for hydroelectric power use at the Lysebotn Hydroelectric Power Station.

Panoramic view over the village Lysebotn located innermost in the Lysefjord (full image)

All municipalities in Norway, including Sandnes, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.[9] The municipality falls under the Jæren District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

• 
  Map of Sandnes city center
• 
  The bus station, known as Ruten (The Route)
• 
  Jæren Tingrett (District Court)
• 
  Sandnes sports park from the air
• 
  Sandnes by night
• 
  A Sandnesgauk. A clay toy originating in Sandnes.

Sandnes hosts a large array of retail shops of most kinds and is used by the neighbouring municipalities appreciating the service and wide range of selections. Sandnes is known as Norway's bicycle city, mainly due to the fact that the bicycle manufacturer Øglænd DBS was situated here for decades. The city offers a variety of routes for everyday riders and tourists. Since 1996, a public bicycle rental program has been in operation in the city.

The city has a vibrant industrial base, mainly in the Ganddal area in the south and the Lura and Forus area in the north along the municipal boundary with Stavanger. There is significant activity related to oil exploration in the North Sea and also some IT related companies. In this suburban region between Sandnes and Stavanger, malls and department stores have also been established. Among these malls is one of Norway's biggest malls, Kvadrat meaning "square" (although it is not square shaped anymore as it has expanded several times since it opened in 1984).

Around 30% of the population is employed in Stavanger (Q4 2004).[29] Sandnes was formerly known as the pottery town of Norway – due to the important ceramics industry based on the extensive occurrence of clay in the surroundings. The Vatneleiren military base is also located in Sandnes, just outside Vatne.

Since 2016, the primary football team, Sandnes Ulf, has played in the second tier, 1. divisjon, of Norwegian professional football.

Sandnes is also known for its Rugby League team, Sandnes Raiders which has supplied the Norwegian national team with players.

The major tourist attraction in Sandnes is the Science Factory (Vitenfabrikken). It is a 4,000-square-metre (43,000 sq ft) science museum with science and art exhibitions, a planetarium, sun telescopes, and chemistry shows.

Sandnes is the only city in Norway which is a member of the World Health Organization’s network of Healthy Cities. Sandnes and Stavanger were chosen along with Liverpool, United Kingdom, to be a European Capital of Culture for 2008.

Higher education facilities include Sandnes Upper Secondary School,[30] Gand Upper Secondary School,[31] Akademiet Upper Secondary School,[32] and Vågen Upper Secondary School.[33] In 2010 Forus Upper Secondary School and parts of Lundehaugen merged to become Vågen.[34] Lundehaugen still exists as a middle school.

The city is also home to the VID Specialized University Sandnes campus, a private christian college.[35]

Churches

Sandnes Church

Hana Church

The Church of Norway has nine parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Sandnes. It is part of the Sandnes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Sandnes

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Bogafjell	Bogafjell Church	Bogafjell	2012
Forsand	Forsand Church	Forsand	1854
	Lyse Chapel	Lysebotn	1961
Gand	Gand Church	Sandved	1978
	Julebygda Chapel	Malmheim og Soma	1957
Hana	Hana Church	Hana	1997
Høle	Høle Church	Høle	1860
Høyland	Høyland Church	Austrått	1841
	Sviland Chapel	Sviland	1913
Lura	Lura Church	Lura	1987
Riska	Riska Church	Hommersåk	1999
	Old Riska Church	Hommersåk	1877
Sandnes	Sandnes Church	Sandnes sentrum	1882

• Annette Obrestad, a professional poker player (born in Stavanger) resides in Sandnes. Annette became the youngest ever winner of a WSOP bracelet when winning the Betfair World Series of Poker Europe title in September 2007 at the age of 18.
• Thomas Dybdahl, a famous Norwegian singer-songwriter
• Kjartan Salvesen, the winner of Norwegian Idol 2004 is from Sandnes. His first album sold 40,000 copies in Norway (double platinum).
• Roger Rasmussen, better known by the stage name Nattefrost, vocalist and founder of Carpathian Forest, a black metal band .
• Henrik Ingebrigtsen 1500 metres runner and 3rd best time in Norway with 3:31.46
• Filip Ingebrigtsen 1500 metres runner and 2nd best time in Norway with 3:30.01
• Jakob Ingebrigtsen 1500 metres runner and best time in Norway with 3:28.68
• Gjert Ingebrigtsen father and coach for Henrik, Filip and Jakob

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sandnes.

Look up Sandnes in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Rogaland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Sandnes travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Municipality website (in Norwegian)
• The official tourism site of the Stavanger region
• Website about the city of Sandnes-Norway