Hordaland county had been around for more than one thousand years. In the 7th century, the area was made up of many
petty kingdoms under the
Gulating and was known as
Hordafylke from around the year 900. In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into four
len. The
Bergenhus len was headquartered in
Bergen and encompassed much of western and northern Norway. In 1662, the
lens were replaced by
amts.
Bergenhus amt originally consisted of the present-day areas of Hordaland,
Sogn og Fjordane, and
Sunnmøre and the far northern
Nordlandene amt was subordinate to Bergenhus. In the 1680s, Nordlandene and Sunnmøre were split from Bergenhus. In 1763, the
amt was divided into northern and southern parts:
Nordre Bergenhus amt and
Søndre Bergenhus amt. When the amt was split, the present-day
Gulen Municipality was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt. In 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part. Søndre Bergenhus amt was renamed
Hordaland fylke in 1919. The city of
Bergen was classified as a city-county
(byamt) from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915,
Årstad Municipality was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring municipalities of
Arna,
Fana,
Laksevåg and
Åsane were annexed into the city of Bergen, creating a much larger
Bergen Municipality. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county. == Government ==