Hitra

Hitra kommune
Municipality
View of Fillan in Hitra

Flag

Coat of arms
Trøndelag within
Norway

Hitra within Trøndelag
Coordinates: 63°32′50″N 08°51′17″E / 63.54722°N 8.85472°E / 63.54722; 8.85472Coordinates: 63°32′50″N 08°51′17″E / 63.54722°N 8.85472°E / 63.54722; 8.85472
Country Norway
County Trøndelag
District Fosen
Established 1 Jan 1838
Administrative centre Fillan
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Ole L. Haugen (Ap)
Area
 • Total 680.39 km2 (262.70 sq mi)
 • Land 643.88 km2 (248.60 sq mi)
 • Water 36.51 km2 (14.10 sq mi)  5.4%
Area rank #165 in Norway
Population (2017)
 • Total 4,659
 • Rank #214 in Norway
 • Density 7.2/km2 (19/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 15.7%
Demonym(s) Hitraværing
Hitterværing[1]
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code NO-5013
Official language form Neutral
Website hitra.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Hitra is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and hundreds smaller islands, islets, and skerries. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fillan. Other villages include Andersskogan, Ansnes, Forsnes, Hestvika, Knarrlagsund, Kvenvær, Melandsjøen, Nordbotn, Sandstad, and Ulvan.

The 680-square-kilometre (260 sq mi) municipality is the 165th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Hitra is the 214th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,659. The municipality's population density is 7.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (19/sq mi) and its population has increased by 15.7% over the last decade.[2]

Hitra is famous in Norway for its large and dense population of Red Deer (as symbolised in its coat of arms — see image right). Hitra is a member of the International Island Games Association.

General information

Map of the old municipal borders on the island of Hitra
Hopsjøbrygga, Hitra

Hitra was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1877, the northern district of Frøya (population: 3,949) was separated from Hitra to form a municipality of its own. On 1 January 1886, the southern and eastern parts of Hitra were separated into a new municipality of Fillan. This left Hitra with 2,241 residents. Then on 1 January 1913, the western part of Hitra was separated to form the new municipality of Kvenvær. This left Hitra with 1,439 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Hitra, Kvenvær, Fillan, and Sandstad were merged to form a new, larger Hitra municipality. Prior to the merger, Hitra had 1,344 residents.[3]

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

On 1 January 2020, the island of Hemnskjela and the northwestern corner of the mainland municipality of Snillfjord will be merged into Hitra.[4][5]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Hitr. The name is probably derived from a word with the meaning "split" or "cleft" (referring to the many inlets of the island). Until 1918, the name of the island and municipality was spelled Hitteren.[6]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is from modern times. They were granted on 7 August 1987. The arms show the head of a Red Deer in silver on a blue background. It symbolizes one of Northern Europe's largest populations of red deer which is located in the municipality.[7]

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Hitra. It is part of the Orkdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Hitra
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
HitraHitra ChurchMelandsjøen1927
Dolm ChurchDolmøya1188
FillanFillan ChurchFillan1789
Nordbotn ChurchNordbotn1900
KvenværKvenvær ChurchKvenvær1909
Forsnes ChapelForsnes1935
SandstadSandstad ChurchSandstad1888

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Hitra, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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. The municipality falls under the Fosen District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hitra is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[8]

Hitra Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet9
 Progress PartyFremskrittspartiet2
 Conservative PartyHøyre2
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti1
 Green PartyMiljøpartiet De Grønne1
 Pensioners' PartyPensjonistpartiet4
 Centre PartySenterpartiet2
 Socialist Left PartySosialistisk Venstreparti1
 Liberal PartyVenstre1
Total number of members:23

Geography

View of Hitra
Entrance to the Hitra Tunnel

Hitra is the seventh largest island of mainland Norway, and is bordered by Frøya to the north. It lies between the Trondheimsleia and the Frøyfjorden. The 345-metre (1,132 ft) tall Mørkdalstuva is the highest point on the island.

Other than the large island of Hitra, there are many other islands in the municipality, notably Fjellværsøya, Ulvøya, Dolmøya, Helgbustadøya, and Bispøyan. The Børøyholmen Lighthouse and Terningen Lighthouse are located in the Trondheimsleia in the southeast part of Hitra municipality.

Transportation

Hitra landscape with wind turbines, near Straum

The company Kystekspressen runs westamaran services from Trondheim and Kristiansund. The 5,610-metre (3.5 mi) long undersea tunnel called the Hitratunnelen connects Hitra to the mainland to the south and the 5,305-metre (3.3 mi) long Frøya Tunnel connects Hitra to Frøya to the north.

Energy

There is a wind farm in the central part of the island, Hitra Wind Farm, founded in 2004, which has 24 wind turbines which produce a total of 55 megawatts (74,000 hp).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  3. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  4. ↑ "Velkommen Snillfjordinger" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  5. ↑ "Veien videre- Hitra, Snillfjord" (in Norwegian). Snillfjord kommune. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  6. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1901). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt (in Norwegian) (14 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 63.
  7. ↑ "Sør-Trøndelag fylke". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  8. ↑ "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
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