Dalsfjord is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1924 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of

Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the Volda (village), village of Volda. Other v ...

in the traditional district of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was the village of

Dravlaus Dravlaus is a village in Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the Dalsfjorden, about south of the village of Lauvstad. The Dravlausdalen valley runs west from Dravlaus, along the Dravlauselva rive ...

. Other villages in the municipality included Ulvestadbygda (Ulvestad, Lauvstad, and Sætre), Åmelfot, Steinsvik, and Dalsbygda. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 418th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Dalsfjord Municipality was the 590th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,150. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was and its population had decreased by 0.2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Historically, the area of Dalsfjord was a part of

(see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). On 1 July 1924, the parish of Dalsfjord was separated from

and it was established as the new Dalsfjord Municipality. Initially, Dalsfjord Municipality had a population of 960. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, Dalsfjord Municipality (population: 1,151) ceased to exist when it was merged back into Volda Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the Dalsfjorden since it is the central geographical feature of the municipality. The first element is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

" or "dale". The last element is which means "

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had one parish () within Dalsfjord Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Volda

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

Geography

The municipality was located south of the

Voldsfjorden Voldsfjorden is a fjord in Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord begins at the confluence of the Austefjorden and the Kilsfjorden. The Voldsfjorden reaches a maximum depth of below sea level, making it the dee ...

and it surrounded the entire Dalsfjorden. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Trollvasstinden, on the border with

Rovde Municipality Rovde is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1905 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Sande Municipality and Vanylven Municipality in the traditional district of S ...

Syvde Municipality Syvde is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1918 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Vanylven Municipality in the Traditional distri ...

, and

Vanylven Municipality Vanylven is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the village of Fiskå, Møre og Romsdal, Fi ...

were all located to the west. Eid Municipality (in

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

county) was located to the south.

and the

were located to the east

Government

While it existed, Dalsfjord Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

of Dalsfjord was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Dalsfjord was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: *1924–1940: Knut Steinsvik *1941–1945: S.P. Løvik *1946–1951: Knut Rødstøl *1951–1958: Jakob K. Velsvik *1958–1960: Lars Velsvik *1960–1963: S.P. Løvik

References

{{Authority control Volda Sunnmøre Former municipalities of Norway 1924 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1924 Populated places disestablished in 1964