Halsa
| Halsa kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 63°6′50″N 8°28′13″E / 63.11389°N 8.47028°ECoordinates: 63°6′50″N 8°28′13″E / 63.11389°N 8.47028°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Møre og Romsdal | ||
| District | Nordmøre | ||
| Administrative centre | Liabøen | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Ola Rognskog (Sp) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 301.02 km2 (116.2 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 292.77 km2 (113 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 8.25 km2 (3.2 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 278 in Norway | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 1,650 | ||
| • Rank | 355 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 5.6/km2 (14.5/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -8.7 % | ||
| Demonym | Halsabygg[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1571 | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | ||
| Website | www.halsa.kommune.no | ||
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Halsa is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre of Halsa is the village of Liabøen. Other villages in the municipality include Halsanaustan, Valsøyfjord, Engan, Hjellnes, and Valsøybotnen.
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[edit] General information
Halsa was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1868, an unpopulated area of Halsa was transferred to Straumsnes. On 1 January 1879, a part of Halsa (population: 279) was transferred to Stangvik. The next year, the Torjulvågen area (population: 240) was transferred to Tingvoll. On 1 July 1915, part of Halsa (population: 114) was transferred to Åsskard. On 1 January 1965, all of Valsøyfjord that was on the mainland (population: 1,104) was merged into Halsa. On 1 January 1976, the area of Aure south of the Vinjefjorden (population: 158) was transferred to Halsa.[2]
[edit] Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Halsa farm (Old Norse: Hǫlsyinjar), since the first church was built there. The first element is hals which means "neck" and the last element is the plural form of vin which means "meadow" or "pasture". Here, the word hals is referring to an isthmus (neck of land) between two fjords: Halsafjord and Skålvikfjord. Before 1918, the name was written "Halse".[3]
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 August 1988. The motif represents the three fjord headlands of the municipality.[4]
[edit] Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Halsa. It is part of the Diocese of Møre and the Rural Deanery (Prosti) of Ytre Nordmøre.
| Parish (Sokn) |
Church Name | Year Built | Location of the Church |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halsa | Halsa kirke | 1724 | Halsanaustan |
| Valsøyfjord | Otnes kirke | 1863 | Valsøyfjord |
[edit] Geography
Halsa has numerous fjords in and around the municipality including the Halsafjord, Vinjefjorden, Arasvikfjord, Skålvikfjord, and Valsøyfjorden lie in Halsa. The Valsøy Bridge crosses the Valsøyfjorden.
[edit] Attractions
Halsa is the location where the famous killer whale, Keiko, went when he was set free. Keiko died in December 2003 and was buried there, unlike most marine animals. The people of Halsa have built a memorial cairn over Keiko's body, where people from all over the world are free to visit him. In the first year after his burial, around 5,000 people visited the grave but then fewer and fewer came and in 2007 only around 500 visitors paid him homage. In June 2008, hardly anyone had come to see the grave, so the municipality decided it would not continue keeping the grave in order.
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf.
- ^ Rygh, Oluf (1908) (in Norwegian). Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt (13 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 448. http://books.google.com/books?id=yGtBAAAAIAAJ.
- ^ "Kommunevåpen" (in Norwegian). Halsa Kommune. http://www.halsa.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?AId=23&back=1&MId1=18&MId2=34. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
[edit] External links
Media related to Halsa at Wikimedia Commons- Møre og Romsdal travel guide from Wikitravel
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
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