Sola kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Rogaland within Norway
Sola within Rogaland
Coordinates: 58°52′48″N 5°37′43″E / 58.88°N 5.62861°E / 58.88; 5.62861Coordinates: 58°52′48″N 5°37′43″E / 58.88°N 5.62861°E / 58.88; 5.62861
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Jæren
Administrative centre	Sola
Government
• Mayor (1995–)	Håkon Rege (H)
Area
• Total	70 km2 (30 sq mi)
• Land	69 km2 (27 sq mi)
Area rank	408 in Norway
Population (2006)
• Total	20,138
• Rank	46 in Norway
• Density	282/km2 (730/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	12.5 %
Demonym	Solabu[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1124
Official language form	Neutral
Website	www.sola.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930.

Stavanger Airport is located here. With usually ample supplies of wind and waves, the Sola sand beach is a popular place for windsurfing. Sola Municipality is situated in the Northern area of Jæren. Stavanger, Klepp and Sandnes are neighbouring municipalities. In the western part of Sola, there are 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of long, sandy beaches facing the North Sea. Sola covers an area of 69 square kilometres (27 sq mi). The population is about 20,000. People have been living in Sola since the Stone Age.

General information [link]

Name [link]

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sola farm (Old Norse: Sóli), since the first church was built there. The name is very old and the meaning is unknown, although it contains the Norse word sól which translates as Sun, therefore it could have some link to the sun.

Coat-of-arms [link]

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1982. The arms show two waves which symbolize all of the sandy beaches in the municipality.^[3]

History [link]

According to Snorre Sturlason the battle of Hafrsfjord took place in the year AD 872, probably outside Ytraberget. Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, is celebrated for having united Norway at this notable battle.

The stone crosses at Tjora date from about the year 1150. In early Christian times, these stone crosses were used as gathering points for religious ceremonies before churches were built. Sola Church Ruins is built on the ruins of a Romanesque stone church dating from about the year 1120. The stone church probably replaced an older wooden church in the area. This wooden church was possibly the one that Erling Skjalgsson had built when he converted to Christianity at the end of the 10th century. A fascinating story lies behind this unique church. The artist Johan Bennetter (1822–1904) used the church as a studio and lived there with his family. During World War II, most of the church was demolished. It was later reconstructed, and the restoration was finished in 1995. In the Sola Church Ruins area, there is a monument of Erling Skjalgsson (AD 975-1028), one of Sola's most famous men. This notable Viking leader has been given the honour of having introduced Christianity to Sola.

The Aviation History Museum gives a unique insight into Norwegian aviation history from World War II until the present day, with exhibitions displaying more than 30 historical aircraft. Stavanger Airport, Sola is Norway's oldest airport, and it was founded in 1937. At Sola airport, the first opposed landing by paratroopers took place as German Fallschirmjägers from 1st battalion of the 1st Regiment, 7th Flieger Division were dropped on the airfield. Sola Air Station became an important airfield for the Germans during WWII.

References [link]

External links [link]

• Media related to Sola at Wikimedia Commons
• The Wiktionary entry for Sola
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Rogaland travel guide from Wikitravel

v t e Municipalities of Rogaland Bjerkreim Bokn Eigersund Finnøy Forsand Gjesdal Hå Haugesund Hjelmeland Karmøy Klepp Kvitsøy Lund Randaberg Rennesøy Sandnes Sauda Sokndal Sola Stavanger Strand Suldal Time Tysvær Utsira Vindafjord