Bjerkreim is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vikeså. Other villages in the municipality include Bjerkreim and Øvrebygd.

Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city, Stavanger. Bjerkreim has one of the most important salmon rivers in Norway, Bjerkreimselva. The most important livelihoods are agriculture and small-scale industries.

The  municipality is the 173rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjerkreim is the 238th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,789. The municipality's population density is  and its population has increased by 1.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Birkrem was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal changes in Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On that date, the Nedre Maudal area of Bjerkreim (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bjerkreim farm (), since the first Bjerkreim Church was built there The first element is the genitive case of  which means "birch". The last element is  which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 11 July 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a birch branch with six leaves and four catkins argent" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical branch from a birch tree which has six leaves and four catkins. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen since the name of the municipality is derived from the Norwegian word for birch, , thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish () within the municipality of Bjerkreim. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Government
All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal. A notable local politician is Olaf Gjedrem, mayor from 1979 to 1993 and later a member of the national parliament.

Municipal council
The municipal council () of Bjerkreim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The executive committee of the council has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economic committee. The mayor of Bjerkreim leads both the council and the executive committee. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:

Mayors
The mayors () of Bjerkreim:

 1838-1839: Thønnis Tollefson Bjerkreim
 1840-1841: Rasmus Rasmusson Osland
 1842-1843: Omund Adsem
 1844-1845: Erik Erikson Espeland
 1846-1849: Erik A. Lauperak
 1850-1853: Sigbjørn Hytland
 1854-1855: Omund Adsem
 1856-1865: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
 1866-1869: Ole V. Sagland
 1870-1879: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
 1880-1881: Jonas K. Vigesaa
 1882-1893: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
 1894-1897: Tollef Asbjørnsen Gjedrem
 1898-1899: Tønnes Tollefsen Bjerkrheim
 1899-1901: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
 1902-1904: Sem Johan Jonassen Vaule
 1905-1919: Gitle A. Birkrem
 1920-1922: Peder Carlson Skjæveland
 1923-1925: Arne Gjedrem
 1926-1934: Karl Laksesvela
 1935-1940: Arne Gjedrem
 1945-1947: Arne Gjedrem
 1948-1955: Martin Veen	
 1956-1963: Karl L. Skjæveland
 1964-1966: Martin Veen
 1966-1975: Tolleiv Gjedrem
 1976-1979: Lloyd Vaule
 1980-1993: Olaf Gjedrem (KrF)
 1994-1999: Gunnhild Vassbø
 1999-2003: Asbjørn Gjedrem
 2003-2007: Asbjørn Ramsli (Sp)
 2007-2015: Marthon Skårland (H)
 2015-2019: Torbjørn Ognedal (Sp)
 2019-present: Kjetil Slettebø (Sp)

Geography
Bjerkreim municipality lies at the northern end of the hilly, rugged Dalane district, just south of the very flat Jæren district. There are several large lakes in Bjerkreim including Austrumdalsvatnet, Byrkjelandsvatnet, Hofreistæ, and Ørsdalsvatnet.

Climate

Transportation
The main means of transportation to Bjerkreim is via the European route E39 highway which passes through the municipality from south to north. The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport, Stavanger airport in Sola, is approximately 40 minutes by car.

Notable people 
 Knud Spødervold (1791–1848 in Bjerkreim), a lay preacher and leader of the Strong Believers religious movement 
 Olaf Gjedrem (born 1948 in Bjerkreim), a politician and mayor of Bjerkreim (1979–1993)
 Ragnar Bjerkreim (born 1958 in Bjerkreim), a composer of film scores

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway 
The River Bjerkreim (Bjerkreimselva)
Visit the South region of Rogaland (Reisemaal Soer Vest)
Fishing equipment

 
Municipalities of Rogaland
1838 establishments in Norway