Hjelmeland
| Hjelmeland kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Coordinates: 59°13′2″N 6°20′27″E / 59.21722°N 6.34083°ECoordinates: 59°13′2″N 6°20′27″E / 59.21722°N 6.34083°E | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Rogaland | ||
| District | Ryfylke | ||
| Administrative centre | Hjelmeland | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Bjørn Laugaland (Sp) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,089 km2 (420.5 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 975 km2 (376.4 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 94 in Norway | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| • Total | 2,747 | ||
| • Rank | 287 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 3/km2 (7.8/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | 0.6 % | ||
| Demonym | Hjelmelandsbu[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1133 | ||
| Official language form | Nynorsk | ||
| Website | www.hjelmeland.kommune.no | ||
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Hjelmeland (help·info) is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Hjelmeland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Two other municipalities were later separated from it: Årdal (in 1849) and Fister (in 1884), but these were both again merged with Hjelmeland on 1 January 1965.
Hjelmeland is known for their fruit (apples, pears, plums, cherries and strawberries) and fish production. Salmon has been important for the fish industry in Hjelmeland for a couple of decades, but white fish such as cod and halibut has increased its value in the latter years.
Hjelmeland is a very beautiful municipality, with deep fjords, mountains, archipelago, and good opportunities for outdoor activities, like fishing and mountain-trekking,
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[edit] General information
[edit] Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hjelmeland farm (Old Norse: Hjalmaland), since the first church was built there. The first element is the plural genitive case of hjalmr which means "helmet" and this is referring to two heights behind the farm which have the form of two helmets. The last element is land which means "land" or "farm".
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 30 November 1984. The arms show a plait of straw and are based on the local tradition of making chairs and other furniture with seats of woven twigs (jærstoler). The process of weaving is symbolised in the arms. At the same time the arms show the strength and solidarity of the municipality.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/h/hjelmela.htm. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
[edit] External links
Media related to Hjelmeland at Wikimedia Commons
The Wiktionary entry for Hjelmeland- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
- Rogaland travel guide from Wikitravel
- http://www.ryfylke.com
Municipalitiesof Rogaland 
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