Western Norway

As Vestlandet ( also the form Vestland is common ), the western part of the country along the Atlantic coast of Norway is called in the local language.

It includes the four provinces ( Fylker ) Rogaland ( 26 municipalities), Hordaland (33 ), Sogn og Fjordane ( 26) and Møre og Romsdal ( 36) and has an area of ​​58 553 km2. In the region there are 121 municipalities Vestlandet and early July 2013 a total of 1.3196 million people lived. The largest city is Bergen ( 269,000 inhabitants), the second largest city is Stavanger ( 130,000 inhabitants).

Landscapes

These geographical areas have a long tradition was put together to back to a realm from the time when Norway. Many of the districts represented small kingdoms, later they were led by vassals of the king, to the bailiff system was introduced in the Danish time. Through a local government reform, which was regulated through corresponding laws ( formannsskapslovene ) the administrative significance in 1837 was repealed. More recently, the timeliness of the landscapes has been renewed through inter-municipal cooperation. The statistical authority, Norway ( Statistisk Sentralbyrå ) is based on their classification into economic regions in these districts. The ancient landscapes thus continue to form natural geographic, administrative and economic units and are also often an individual dialect and its own identity that binds them together in the consciousness of the population.

Vestlandet consists of the following 15 districts with 121 municipalities insgesant:

• Nordmøre
• Romsdal
• Sunnmøre
• Nordfjord
• Sunnfjord
• Sogn
• Nordhordland
• Midthordland
• Sunnhordland
• Hardanger
• Voss
• Haugaland
• Ryfylke
• Jæren
• Dalane

Climate

Vestlandet is one of the wettest regions in Europe. The rainfall in the mountains along the coasts are on average 3500 mm per year in peak years, up to 5000 mm per year. The town of Bergen has an average rainfall of 2250 mm per year. Cause is, inter alia, the Gulf Stream, the region also owes a milder climate than would be derived from their geographical location. Therefore, is on the coast not uncommon in winter rain.

Language

In Vestland Nynorsk is a commonly used variant of the Norwegian language.

Traffic

The traditional postal shipping line Hurtigruten operates several coastal towns Vestlands. By road the coastal towns on the European Route 39 are connected with each other, which begins in the north near Trondheim and extends south to Kristiansand on a car ferry to the Danish Aalborg. Several cities Vestlands have airports that connect transport links with the capital Oslo, neighboring provinces and to each other.