Hidra (historically spelled ''Hitterø'') is the largest
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...
in
Agder
Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
. The island lies in
Flekkefjord
is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Flekkefjord. The villages of Sira, Gyland, Rasvåg, Kirkehavn, and Åna-Sira are ...
municipality, south of the mainland coast, separated by the wide Hidrasund
strait
A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...
and the
Listafjorden. The island has about 500 residents (in 2015), mostly living on the west side in
Kirkehavn, where
Hidra Church is located. The village of
Rasvåg
Rasvåg is a fishing village in Flekkefjord municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is one of two harbours on the Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwest ...
is another main village on the south side of the island. In 2007, the government of Norway studied the possibility of building an undersea tunnel to connect the island to the mainland without a ferry, but it was deemed to be too costly for the small benefit.
The island was the center of the old municipality of
Hidra which existed from 1893 until 1965.
Geography
The island is almost entirely granite with some moraine deposits. The inner part of the island is much more hospitable, with oak and other deciduous trees. The island is divided nearly in two halves by the Rasvågfjorden, and the Eie Canal was built through the remaining isthmus so that small boats can pass all the way through.
Name
The
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
form of the name was ''Hitr''. The name is probably derived from a word with the meaning "split" or "cleft" (referring to the fact that the island is almost split in two by the Rasvåg
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...
).
Prior to 1918, the name was spelled ''Hitterø''.
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
References
External links
Hidra's website
{{Agder-island-stub
Flekkefjord
Islands of Agder