Leirvik,Stord

Leirvik is a town and the administrative centre of Stord municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The town lies along the southern coast of the large island of Stord, along the Hardangerfjorden. The town gained “town status” in 1997. The town includes the Eldøyane peninsula where the large Kværner Stord industrial area is located.^[3]

Leirvik is the regional centre of the traditional district of Sunnhordland, and has many public services and offices such as the Sunnhordland District court and the Sunnhordland Museum, as well as many shops and restaurants. Stord Churchand several schools such as Stord Upper Secondary School and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences are all located in the town.^[3]

The 9.52-square-kilometre (2,350-acre) town has a population (2013) of 13,478. This gives it a population density of 1,416 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,670/sq mi).^[1] The entire municipality has about 18,000 residents in it (2013), so Leirvik has over 70% of the total population of the municipality. Leirvik is also the largest urban area that is located in a municipality where Nynorsk is the preferred language form.