Høyland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 170 km2 municipality was located at the innermost end of the Gandsfjorden in the western part of the present-day municipality of Sandnes. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The main church for the municipality was Høyland Church.

History

The parish of Høiland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 2,286. On 6 April 1861, the large village of Sandnes (population: 440) was declared to be a ladested (seaport town). It was therefore separated from Høyland to constitute a municipality of its own. The split left Høyland with 3,376 inhabitants. In 1912, a part of Høyland with 41 inhabitants was moved to the neighboring municipality of Hetland to the north. In 1957, a part of Høyland with 18 inhabitants was moved to the town of Sandnes. On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal changes across Norway due to the recommendations of the Schei Committee. On that date the municipality of Høyland was merged with the town of Sandnes and most of the municipalities of Hetland and Høle to form a new, larger municipality of Sandnes. Prior to the merger, Høyland had a population of 20,353.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Høiland farm since the first Høyland Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "high" or "tall". The last element is which means "land" or "district". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Høiland. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Høyland.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Høyland was made up of 41 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: