Fjaler

Fjaler kommune
Municipality

View of Fjaler to the left of the fjord

Coat of arms

Sogn og Fjordane within
Norway

Fjaler within Sogn og Fjordane
Coordinates: 61°18′22″N 05°27′48″E / 61.30611°N 5.46333°E / 61.30611; 5.46333Coordinates: 61°18′22″N 05°27′48″E / 61.30611°N 5.46333°E / 61.30611; 5.46333
Country Norway
County Sogn og Fjordane
District Sunnfjord
Administrative centre Dale i Sunnfjord
Government
  Mayor (2003) Arve Helle (Ap)
Area
  Total 416.56 km2 (160.83 sq mi)
  Land 389.91 km2 (150.55 sq mi)
  Water 26.65 km2 (10.29 sq mi)
Area rank 234 in Norway
Population (2013)
  Total 2,871
  Rank 278 in Norway
  Density 7.4/km2 (19/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -1.9 %
Demonym(s) Dalsfjording
Fjalerbu[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1429
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.fjaler.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Fjaler is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Dale. Other places in Fjaler include Espedal, Flekke, Folkestad, Guddal, and Hellevika.

Fjaler was the birthplace of famous Norwegian poet Jakob Sande. The Red Cross Nordic United World College at Haugland, one of the twelve United World Colleges of the world is also located here, as well as the Nordic Art Centre at Dalsåsen. There is a bridge connecting Dale to Eikenes in Askvoll municipality, and buses depart from Dale to Førde, Rysjedalsvika, Hyllestad, and the western part of Fjaler. Førde Airport, Bringeland is located about 28 kilometres (17 mi) to the east, with flights to Oslo and Bergen.

General information

Map of Fjaler
View of Dale Church

Ytre Holmedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality was identical to the Ytre Holmedal parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Holmedal, Dale, and Fjaler. In 1912, the name Ytre Holmedal was changed to Fjaler.[2]

On 1 January 1990, some changes were made to the boundaries between the municipalities of Fjaler, Gaular, and Askvoll. The areas surrounding the villages of Fure, Folkestad, and Våge (population: 482) in Askvoll were transferred to Fjaler municipality. The areas surrounding the villages of Vårdal, Holmedal, Rivedal, and a part of Hestad (population: 731) in Fjaler were transferred to Askvoll municipality. The parts of Hestad that did not go to Askvoll (population: 90) were transferred to Gaular municipality.[3]

Name

The name (Old Norse: Fjalir) originally belonged to the fjord (now called the Dalsfjorden). The name is probably the plural form of Old Norse fjǫl (fjalir, earlier fjalar[4]), which means "board". The old name was revived in 1913; before then the name of the municipality was Ytre Holmedal.[5]

See also: Gaular

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 8 February 1991. The arms show two grey bridges on a red background. The two bridges represent the old, historic bridges in the municipality that are part of the old post road that goes through Fjaler on its way to Trondheim.[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Fjaler. It is part of the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Fjaler
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
FjalerDale ChurchDale1864
Folkestad ChapelVåge1913
Guddal ChurchGuddal1870
Hellevik ChapelHellevika1978

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Fjaler, are responsible for primary education (up to and including 10th year), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fjaler is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2015–2019, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Fjaler Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet7
 Conservative PartyHøgre2
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti1
 Green PartyMiljøpartiet Dei Grøne1
 Centre PartySenterpartiet8
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
 Liberal PartyVenstre3
Total number of members:23

Mayor

The mayor (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party or a majority coalition of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. Gunhild Berge Stang of the Liberal Party was elected mayor in the 2015 elections. Nina Yndestad of the Labour Party holds the post of vice mayor. [8]

Geography

Fjaler municipality lies to the south of the Dalsfjord in the Sunnfjord region. The municipality of Askvoll lies to the north (across the fjord), the municipality of Gaular lies to the northeast, the municipality of Høyanger lies to the southeast, and the municipalities of Hyllestad and Solund lie to the southwest.

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Natvik, Oddvar (9 February 2005). "Some historical data on the 26 Kommunes".
  3. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
  4. http://norse.ulver.com/dct/new/version2.html
  5. Rygh, Oluf (1919). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (12 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 263.
  6. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  7. "Fjaler municipality Municipal council election 2015" (in Norwegian). Valgresultat.no. 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-17. line feed character in |title= at position 20 (help)
  8. "Gunhild blir ny ordførar i Fjaler" (in Norwegian). NRK Sogn og Fjordane. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
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External links

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