Bjørnafjorden, Vestland County, Norway

🇳🇴 Bjørnafjorden is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Midhordland region of the county. The administrative centre of Bjørnafjorden is the village of Osøyro. Other villages in the municipality include Eikelandsosen, Fusa, Holdhus, Holmefjord, Vinnes, Strandvik, Sundvord, Hagavik, Halhjem, Søfteland, Søre Øyane, and Søvik.

The 517-square-kilometre (200 sq mi) municipality is the 205th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjørnafjorden is the 47th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 25,596. The municipality's population density is 52.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (136/sq mi) and its population has increased by 16.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Os and Fusa were merged.

Name The municipality is named after the Bjørnafjorden, a local fjord which is a central geographic feature of the municipality. The first element is bjørn which means "bear". The last element is the definite form of fjord which means "fjord". Thus this is "the bear fjord".

Coat of arms The coat of arms was adopted in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger took effect. The official blazon is "Azure, a boat's bow and two spirals issuant from each side Or". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the bow of a boat and below that are two curved wave shapes. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The boat and waves symbolize the water and the importance of the sea. The boat is designed to look like an oselvar, a traditional rowing boat made in the area. The curved wave designs also allude to the local rosemaling designs and the local Giant's kettles (geysers) in Koldal. The arms were designed by Johan D. Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Bjørnafjorden. It is part of the Fana prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government Bjørnafjorden 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 Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.