Fjaler is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. 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 ...

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 Jakob Sande (1 December 1906 – 16 March 1967) was a Norwegian writer, poet and folk singer from Dale in Sunnfjord. His parents were Andreas Sande and Ragna Margrete (born Barsnes). He married Solveig Ytterlid in 1942 and they had a daughter, S ...

. The UWC Red Cross Nordic at Haugland, one of the eighteen

United World Colleges The United World Colleges (UWC) is an international network of schools and educational programmes with the shared aim of "making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." The organisation was fo ...

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 Hyllestad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the Hyllestad (village), vi ...

, and the western part of Fjaler.

Førde Airport, Bringeland Førde is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was t ...

is located about to the east, with flights to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. The municipality is the 234th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fjaler is the 231st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,913. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

''Ytre Holmedal'' was established as a

on 1 January 1838 (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). The original municipality was identical to the Ytre Holmedal

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

''(

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 ...

)'' with the sub-parishes () of Holmedal, Dale, and Fjaler. In 1912, the name ''Ytre Holmedal'' was changed to ''Fjaler''. 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. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created

county after Sogn og Fjordane and

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

counties were merged.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) was named ''Ytre Holmedal'', after the old '' Holmedal'' farm () since the first Holmedal Church was built there. The meaning of the first element of Holmedal is uncertain, but it may have been an old name for a local river, . It is unknown what the river name meant. The last 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 prefix (which means "outer") was added to distinguish the area from its neighbor, Indre Holmedal. On 6 December 1912, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Fjaler''. This new name brought back a very old name for the area (). The name was the ancient name for the

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 ...

(now called the Dalsfjorden). The name comes from the plural form of the word which means "board" or "table". Older forms of the name were or .

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 8 February 1991. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, two arched bridges

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is two arched stone bridges. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The two bridges symbolize the old, historic bridges in the municipality that are part of the old post road that goes through Fjaler on its way to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn from Nordfjord. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

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 ...

has one parish () within the municipality of Fjaler. It is part of the

Sunnfjord prosti Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland counties of Norway, county. It includes the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the sout ...

(

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.

Government

Fjaler Municipality is responsible for primary education (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 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 roads and utilities. The municipality is 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 is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Fjaler is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and 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 mayors () of Fjaler: * 1838–1847: Johan Widing Heiberg Landmark * 1847–1847: Bertel Vonen * 1847–1855: Peder J. Fossedal * 1855–1860: P. J. Smith * 1860–1862: Ola Mathiasson Bakke * 1863–1868: Peder C. Mork * 1868–1868: J. Vonen * 1868–1872: J. Kalstad * 1872–1876: Mons Davidson Huustvedt * 1876–1880: P. J. Smith * 1880–1892: L. Larsen * 1892–1896: Mons Davidson Huustvedt * 1896–1898: David Olsen Bakke * 1899–1904: Ole A. Skarstein * 1904–1910: David Olsen Bakke * 1911–1913: Øystein Sørebø * 1914–1916: Andreas Sande * 1917–1919: Ola J. Espedal * 1920–1928: Andreas Sande * 1929–1934: Knut Bakkelid * 1935–1940: Ragnvald Fagerheim * 1941–1942: Søren K. Hauge * 1945–1945: David M. Hustveit * 1945–1947: Ragnvald Fagerheim * 1948–1959: Søren K. Hauge * 1960–1961: Jonas Mork * 1961–1963: Aksel Hovland ( V) * 1964–1965: Gustav Stavøstrand ( V) * 1966–1967: Ola Sørebø ( V) * 1968–1971: Andreas Sande ( Sp) * 1972–1975: Arne Barnsnes ( Ap) * 1976–1981: Trygve Bjånes ( Ap) * 1982–1987: Kåre Kleppe ( Sp) * 1988–1989: Magnar Vagstad ( Ap) * 1990–1995: Rasmus Felde ( Sp) * 1995–2002: Arne Kyrkjebø ( Ap) * 2002–2003: Jan Ulltang ( Sp) * 2003–2015: Arve Helle ( Ap) * 2015–2019: Gunhild Berge Stang ( V) * 2019-2023: Kjetil Høgseth Felde ( Sp) * 2023-present: Leif Jarle Espedal ( Ap)

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 Sunnfjord lies to the northeast, the municipality of Høyanger lies to the southeast, and the municipalities of

and

Solund Solund is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. Solund is the westernmost island municipality in Norway. Hol ...

lie to the southwest. Jakob Sande

Notable people

* Nikka Vonen (1836 in Dale – 1933), a Norwegian educator, folklorist, and author * Haldis Halvorsen (1889 in Dale – 1936), a Norwegian mezzo-soprano opera singer * Erik Grant Lea (1892–1979), a mythical tycoon and Norwegian ship-owner, banker, insurer, and mill owner who settled in Gjølanger in Fjaler in 1922 *

(1906 in Dale – 1967), a Norwegian writer, poet, and folk singer who wrote in

Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

* Herbjørn Sørebø (1933 in Fjaler – 2003), a Norwegian journalist and broadcasting personality

Gallery

File:Gjølanger.jpg, Gjølanger File:Bakka.JPG, Bygning i klyngetunet Larsbakk i Fjaler File:Tyssedalsvatnet.jpg, Tyssedalsvatnet i Fjaler File:Fure fergekai.jpg, Fure fergekai

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Map of Fjaler
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 1838 establishments in Norway