Bykle is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Setesdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bykle. Other villages in Bykle municipality include Berdalen, Bjåen, Breive, Hoslemo, Hovden, and Nordbygdi. Bykle was established as a municipality on 1 January 1902 when it was separated from the municipality of Valle.
The municipality is the 60th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bykle is the 333rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 995. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.1% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The municipality of Bykle was created when it was separated from the older municipality of Valle on 1 January 1902 after a dispute over the costs of road building (Bykle was the bigger area, while Valle had more people and more money).
Initially, Bykle had a population of 476 residents in the new municipality. The boundaries of the municipality have not changed since that time.
Name
The municipality (originally the
prestegjeld) is named after the old
Byklum farm () since the first Bykle Church was built there. The farm is named after Lake
Bykil, but the meaning of that name is uncertain. The name possibly comes from the word bauka which means "to splash" or "to slosh". Historically, the name has been spelled
Bøgle or
Bøckle, but the spelling has been
Bykle since the 19th century.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The official
blazon is
"Vert, goutte" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is droplets of water that are equally spaced all over the shield. The water droplets have a tincture of
argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field symbolizes the importance of
agriculture in the municipality. The water droplets were chosen as a symbol for the water and rivers in the municipality, as well as for the
hydropower plant which was founded in 1915. The plant has brought prosperity to the area since then. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Bykle. It is part of the
Otredal prosti (
deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
| Churches in Bykle
!Parish (sokn)!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built |
| 2004 |
| 1619 |
| 1955 |
Geography
Bykle sits in the northern part of the
Setesdalen valley. It is bordered to the north by
Vinje municipality and to the east by
Tokke municipality both of which are in
Telemark county. It is bordered to the south by Valle and
Sirdal municipality, both in
Agder county. It is bordered in the southwest by
Sandnes municipality and in the west by
Hjelmeland and
Suldal municipalities–all in
Rogaland county.
There are many that are located within the mountainous municipality including Blåsjø, Botsvatn, Hartevatnet, Holmavatnet, Ormsavatnet, Reinevatn, Skyvatn, Store Urevatn, Svartevatnet, and Vatndalsvatnet, and Ytre Storevatnet.
The Setesdalsheiene mountain range runs through the municipality, including the tallest mountain in that range, Sæbyggjenuten at . The Byklestigen pass is a torturous trail up a steep cliff face. Until the 1870s, it was the only route to reach Bykle from the middle Setesdal valley to the south. It runs above the river Otra and was the site of numerous accidents on the hazardous route. The eastern side of the valley (and the municipal/county border) is lined by the mountains Gråsteinsnosi, Brandsnutene, Svolhusgreini, Sæbyggjenuten, and Støylsdalsnutene. The western side of the valley (and the municipal/county border) is lined by the mountains Storhellernuten, Skyvassnuten, Sveigen, and Kaldafjellet. The southern border of the municipality is marked by the mountain Steinheii. The mountains Urevassnutene, Djuptjønnuten, Snjoheinuten, and Kvervetjønnuten mark the highlands in the southwestern part of the municipality, northwest of the village of Bykle.
Climate
