Sandnes, Rogaland County, Norway

🇳🇴 Sandnes is a city and a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the 3rd largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies in the extreme western part of the vast municipality.

Sandnes is part of the traditional district of Jæren. The western part of the municipality is very urbanized while the eastern part of the municipality is very rural. The municipality is divided into 13 boroughs and the administrative centre is located in the borough of Trones og Sentrum, a borough in the city. There are several villages in the rural parts of the municipality including Hommersåk, Høle, Foss-Eikeland, Stokka, Forsand, Lysebotn, and Vatne.

The 1,041-square-kilometre (402 sq mi) municipality is the 109th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sandnes is the 7th most populous municipality in Norway. The municipality's population has increased by 20.8% over the previous 10-year period.

History 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. On 1 July 1957, a small part of Høyland municipality 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 and municipality of Sandnes was merged with the municipality of Høyland and parts of the municipalities of Høle and Hetland.

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

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

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

Geography The municipality lies in the Jæren region and stretches 90 km (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 km (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 north-east, 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.

Economy 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). 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.

Culture, sports, and education 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 experiments.

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, Gand Upper Secondary School, Akademiet Upper Secondary School, and Vågen Upper Secondary School. In 2010 Forus Upper Secondary School and parts of Lundehaugen merged to become Vågen. Lundehaugen still exists as a middle school.

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

Churches 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. The main church for the city is Sandnes Church, which is the seat of the deanery which covers the whole municipality.