Norway, Sandnes

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.

Geography

The town of Sandnes is located about 15 km south of Stavanger, and these two cities have expanded so as to form a conurbation. The municipality of Sola is located to the west, Klepp and Time to the south, and Gjesdal and Forsand to the east.

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.

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 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.

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 in the second highest division of Norwegian professional football, Adeccoligaen.

Sandnes is the only town in Norway that is a member of the World Health Organisation’s network of Healthy Cities.