Hardanger

---

title: "Hardanger" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["districts-of-vestland", "petty-kingdoms-of-norway", "millennium-sites"] description: "Traditional district in Norway" topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardanger" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Traditional district in Norway ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Hardanger
settlement_type	District
image_skyline	Lofthus1.jpg
image_caption	View of Lofthus
image_map	Vestland.png
map_caption	Districts of Vestland:
seat_type	Largest settlement
seat	Odda
area_total_km2	6266
population_total	22810
population_as_of	2009
population_demonym	Harding
population_density_km2	auto
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Norway
subdivision_type1	County
subdivision_name1	Vestland
subdivision_type2	Region
subdivision_name2	Western Norway
coordinates
::

| name = Hardanger | settlement_type = District | image_skyline = Lofthus1.jpg | image_caption = View of Lofthus | image_map = Vestland.png | map_caption = Districts of Vestland: | seat_type = Largest settlement | seat = Odda | area_total_km2 = 6266 | population_total = 22810 | population_as_of = 2009 | population_demonym = Harding | population_density_km2 = auto | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Norway | subdivision_type1 = County | subdivision_name1 = Vestland | subdivision_type2 = Region | subdivision_name2 = Western Norway | coordinates =

Hardanger is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The region is dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eidfjorden. The district consists of Ullensvang Municipality, Eidfjord Municipality, Ulvik Municipality, and Kvam Municipality.

The area is dominated by the vast Hardangervidda plateau in the east and the large Folgefonna glacier on the central Folgefonna peninsula. The district was selected as the millennium site for the old Hordaland county.

In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hardanger was a petty kingdom with its capital at Kinsarvik.

Etymology

The Old Norse form of the name was Harðangr. The first element is derived from the ethnonym hǫrðar, or from meaning "hard" (referring to wind and weather). The last element is which means "tight fjord" (the name originally belonged to the fjord, now called Hardangerfjorden).

Agriculture

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Fra_Hardanger_Gude.jpg" caption="''From Hardanger'', a painting by [[Hans Gude]], 1847"] ::

The region is one of Norway's most important sources of fruit and constitutes approximately 40% of the national fruit production, including apple, plum, pear, cherry and redcurrant. Apples have been cultivated in Hardanger since the 14th century, the agricultural experience brought by English monks who first arrived at Lyse Abbey in 1146. The climate, soil and seasonal conditions of the region are believed to be particularly beneficial to the growth of apples. In 2005, juice produced from Hardanger apples became Norway's third product to be granted protection of origin name, with applications pending for other regional produce.

In 2006, an Ulvik farmer and producer of sparkling cider, Nils Lekve of Hardanger Saft og Siderfabrikk, successfully navigated the narrow and complex directives of Norwegian alcohol laws, and completed a distribution agreement with monopoly alcoholic beverage outlet Vinmonopolet, making Hardanger Sider Sprudlande available for national sale by July 2006. Lekve's efforts earned him a top 3 finalist nomination for the Bygdeutviklingsprisen (), awarded by Innovasjon Norge.

Food and crafts

Hardanger embroidery is a type of whitework that takes its name from that region. It is made with geometric designs of kloster (blocks), "ships", diamonds, and other embroidery techniques. It is worked on Hardanger or linen fabric which has a "count" of 22 to 29 threads per inch. Traditionally it is worked on white fabric with white cotton thread but in recent years other colors and threads are popular. Norwegian bunads (Hardangerbunad, native costumes) from that region often feature this embroidery on the bottom of the white apron.

Hardanger also lends its name to the Hardanger fiddle which was originally produced there.

Krotekake is a type of lefse unique to the region.

References

References

1. "Informasjon om stadnamn". [[Norwegian Mapping Authority.
2. {{Cite SNL. Hardanger. Hardanger. 2026-01-03. Thorsnæs. Geir. 2025-02-24
3. Opplysningskontoret for Frukt og Grønt. frukt.no. "Hardangerfrukt vil ha beskyttelse".
4. Opplysningskontoret for Frukt og Grønt. frukt.no. "Epler i Hardanger".
5. Matmerk. (December 16, 2005). "Eplejuice frå hardanger får lovbeskyttelse".
6. Hofseth, Arne, ''Bergens Tidende''. (May 29, 2006). "Sprudlande Hardanger i stettglas".
7. hardangerfjord.com. "Saft og cider".
8. Bergens Tidende. (November 6, 2007). "Ulvik-sider til finalen".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::