Halsa 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 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 ...

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 1838 until 2020 when it became part of

Heim Municipality Heim is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020 upon the merger of three other municipalities. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district ...

in Trondelag county. It was part of the

Nordmøre Nordmøre () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. The area comprises the northern third of the county including the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Kristiansund Mu ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. 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 ...

of Halsa was the village of

Liabøen Liabøen (Statistics Norway calls it ''Liabø'') is a village in Heim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Skålvik Fjord, along the European route E39 highway, about northeast of the village of Halsa and ...

. Other villages in the municipality included Betna, Hennset,

Klevset Klevset is a village in Heim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It lies on the shore of Skålvik Fjord along County Road 350. The island of Bårsetøya lies just offshore in the fjord. A small boatyard, ''J.M. Kleivset Båtbyggeri'', fo ...

, Todalen,

Halsa Halsa may refer to: Places * Halsa Municipality, a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Halsa, Trøndelag, a village in Heim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway ** Halsa Church, a church in Heim Municipality in Trøndelag ...

Valsøyfjord Valsøyfjord is a small village in Heim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Arasvikfjorden, just west of the Valsøyfjorden. The European route E39 highway runs through the village, just west of the Valsø ...

, Engan, Hjellnes, and Valsøybotn. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 279th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Halsa Municipality was the 349th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,574. 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 has decreased by 4.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The

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 ...

of Halsa was established as a municipality 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). On 1 January 1868, an unpopulated area of Halsa Municipality was transferred to the neighboring Straumsnes Municipality. On 1 January 1879, a part of Halsa Municipality (population: 279) was transferred to the neighboring

Stangvik Municipality Stangvik is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality of Stangvik (historically spelled ''Stangvig'') enc ...

. The next year, the Torjulvågen area (population: 240) on the west side of the Halsafjorden was transferred to Tingvoll Municipality. On 1 July 1915, part of southern Halsa Municipality (population: 114) was transferred to

Åsskard Municipality Åsskard is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1895 until its dissolution in 1965. It was located in what is now the northern part of Surnadal Municipality. The former municipality of Åsskar ...

. 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 1965, all of Valsøyfjord Municipality that was located on the mainland (population: 1,104) was merged into Halsa Municipality. On 1 January 1976, the district of

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

located south of the Vinjefjorden (population: 158) was transferred to Halsa Municipality. On 1 January 2020, Halsa Municipality merged with the neighboring

Hemne Municipality Hemne is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was incorporated into Heim Municipality. It was part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the m ...

and the Ytre Snillfjord area of Snillfjord Municipality to form the new

. Heim Municipality is located in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county, which means that as part of the merger, Halsa Municipality left

county and moved to

county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''Halsa'' farm () since the first Halsa Church was built there. The first element comes from the plural form of the word which means "

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

". Here, the word is referring to an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

(or neck of land) between two

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 ...

s: Halsafjorden and the Skålvikfjorden. The last element is which means "

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

" or "

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Halse''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Halsa''.

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 19 August 1988 and it was in use until 2020 when the municipality ceased to exist. 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 ''" Per bend sinister embattled

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 ...

and azure"'' (). This means the arms have are divided with a diagonal line that is

embattled A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

. The

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) below the line 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 ...

of azure. Above the line, the field has a tincture of

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The embattled line symbolizes the municipal coastline since there are three fjords ( Halsafjorden, Skålvikfjorden and Valsøyfjorden) protruding inland from the north coast of the municipality. The arms were designed by Asbjørn Heggem. 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 ...

had two parishes () within Halsa Municipality. It was part of the Indre Nordmøre 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 Møre.

Geography

Halsa Municipality had numerous fjords in and around the municipality including the Halsafjorden, Vinjefjorden, Arasvikfjorden, Skålvikfjorden, and Valsøyfjorden. The Valsøy Bridge crossed the Valsøyfjorden. There were ferry connections to Tingvoll Municipality to the west and to

to the north. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Hjelmen.

Government

While it existed, Halsa 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 Nordmøre District Court and 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 Halsa is made up of 15 representatives that are 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 Halsa was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: * 1838–1843: Bersven Røkkum * 1844–1855: Peder Knudsen Wogland * 1856–1857: Sivert Sogge * 1858–1865: Nils T. Gjerstad * 1866–1867: Sivert Sogge * 1868–1871: Einar A. Megaard * 1872–1873: Martinus Wogland * 1874–1877: Einar A. Megaard * 1878–1883: Nils T. Gjerstad * 1884–1887: Knut P. Reiten ( V) * 1888–1889: Ole P. Sæter ( MV) * 1890–1893: Knut P. Reiten ( V) * 1894–1901: Tore N. Gjerstad ( MV) * 1902–1907: Edvard Gjerstad ( V) * 1908–1913: Nils Fjærvik * 1914–1919: Tore N. Gjerstad ( V) * 1920–1922: Erik Oterholm ( V) * 1923–1925: Nils E. Aakvik ( Bp) * 1926–1928: Ole L. Taknes * 1929–1931: Elling M. Rognskog ( LL) * 1932–1934: Tore J. Betten ( LL) * 1935–1937: Ole L. Taknes ( LL) * 1938–1942: Tore K. Reiten ( LL) * 1942–1945: Annas Strand ( NS) * 1945–1945: Tore K. Reiten ( LL) * 1946–1947: Ole L. Taknes ( LL) * 1948–1951: Einar Rosvold ( LL) * 1952–1959: Ingebrigt Fjærvik ( Bp) * 1960–1963: Nils Georg Hakstad ( Ap) * 1964–1964: Tore Seter ( Sp) * 1965–1971: Ragnar Lange ( H) * 1971–1975: Hallvard Enge ( Sp) * 1975–1979: Einar Snekvik ( Ap) * 1979–1983: Jan Aasland ( KrF) * 1983–1987: Einar Snekvik ( Ap) * 1987–1991: Erling Hammer ( Ap) * 1991–1999: Harald Nymoen ( Sp) * 1999–2003: Ivar Betten ( Ap) * 2003–2007: Margrete Seter ( LL) * 2007–2019: Ola Rognskog ( Sp)

Attractions

Halsa Municipality was the location where the famous

killer whale The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopolit ...

, Keiko, went when he was set free. Keiko died in December 2003 and was buried there. The people of Halsa built a memorial

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

over Keiko's body, where people from all over the world are free to visit him. In the first year after his

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, around 5,000 people visited the grave but then fewer and fewer came and in 2007 only around 500 visitors paid him homage. In June 2008, hardly anyone had come to see the grave, so the municipality decided it would not continue keeping the grave in order.

Notable people

References

{{Authority control Nordmøre Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 2020