SANDNES

is a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.
Sandnes was separated from Høyland as a town, and municipality of its own, in 1860. The rural municipalities of Høyland and Høle (and a part of Hetland) were merged with Sandnes January 1, 1965.

Contents

Geography

Economy

Culture

Origin of the name

Coat-of-arms

External links

Geography

The town of Sandnes is located about 15 km south of Stavanger, and these two cities have expanded so as to almost form a twin city. The municipality of Sola is located to the west, Klepp and Time to the south, and Gjesdal and Forsand to the east. The fjord ''Gandsfjorden ''is situated north-south and ends in the centre of Sandnes. The international airport of Stavanger is situated in Sola.
The landscape of the Stavanger and Sandnes region is quite inviting and 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 400-500 meters above sea level. From Stavanger and Sandnes it is one hour by car to alpine and Nordic skiing resorts. In Sandnes there are some easily accessible small mountain peaks with a splendid view in all directions. The renowned Lyse Fjord is also easily accessible by car or boat.

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 town offers a variety of routes for everyday riders and tourists.
The town also holds a vibrant industry mainly in the Ganddal area in the south and the Lura and Forus area in the north towards the Stavanger boundary. It is a significant activity towards the oil exploration in the North Sea and also a large cluster of IT related companies. In this suburban region between Stavanger and Sandnes large malls and department stores have also been established. Among these malls is Norway's biggest mall, Kvadrat meaning "square", as when it was built it was a totally square building. On the outskirts of the town the internationally renowned, professional china manufacturer Figgjo is situated.
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.

Culture

Sandnes' primary football team (Sandnes Ulf) is currently competing among the best in their league (Norwegian 2nd Division).
Sandnes is the only town in Norway that is a member of the World Health Organisation’s network of Healthy Cities.

Origin of the name

The town is named after the old farm Sandnes (Norse ''Sandnes''), since it is built on its ground. The first element is ''sandr'' m 'sand, sandy beach', the last element is ''nes'' n 'headland'.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1972. It shows a ocarina (the ocarinas made in Sandnes, ''sandnesgauker'', are well known in Norway).

External links

★ Municipality website in 'Norwegian' and 'English'

★ City map

★ Pictures from Sandnes