Hjelmeland

Hjelmeland^ⓘ is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hjelmelandsvågen. Other villages in the municipality include Fister, Årdal, and Jøsenfjorden.^[4]

Hjelmeland Municipality Hjelmeland kommune
Municipality
View of the Hjelmeland Church
Flag Coat of arms
Rogaland within Norway
Hjelmeland within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°13′02″N 06°20′27″E
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Ryfylke
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Hjelmelandsvågen
Government
• Mayor (2022)	Anita Husøy Riskedal (Sp)
Area
• Total	1,067.78 km2 (412.27 sq mi)
• Land	948.04 km2 (366.04 sq mi)
• Water	119.74 km2 (46.23 sq mi)  11.2%
• Rank	#105 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	2,619
• Rank	#247 in Norway
• Density	2.8/km2 (7/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−6.4%
Demonym	Hjelmelandsbu[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1133[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Hjelmeland is known for its fruit (apples, pears, plums, cherries and strawberries) and fish production. Salmon has been important for the fish industry in Hjelmeland for a couple of decades, but white fish such as cod and halibut has increased its value in the latter years.

The 1,068-square-kilometre (412 sq mi) municipality is the 105th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hjelmeland is the 247th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,619. The municipality's population density is 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.3/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 6.4% over the previous 10-year period.^[5][6]

General information

View of the Hjelmeland countryside

View of the Jøsenfjorden

View of an old stone bridge in Hjelmeland

View of the Old Årdal Church

Hjelmeland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1859, Hjelmeland municipality was split into two: the southern portion of the municipality (population: 1,315) was split off to form the new municipality of Årdal and the remainder of the municipality became the municipality of Hjelmeland og Fister (population: 3,084). On 1 July 1884, the western islands and the western coast of the mainland (population: 832) were split off from Hjelmeland og Fister to form the new municipality of Fister and the rest of the municipality was renamed simply "Hjelmeland" which now had 2,249 residents.^[7]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, all of Hjelemland municipality (population: 1,691) was merged with most of the municipality of Årdal (except the Sundgardene area along the Årdalsfjorden), the mainland part and the island of Randøy from the municipality of Fister, and the small Buergårdene area on Ombo from the municipality of Jelsa. The population of the newly enlarged Hjelemland was 2,909; nearly doubling the size of the municipal population.^[7]

On 1 January 2020, the parts of Hjelmeland municipality that were located on the island of Ombo were transferred to the neighboring Stavanger Municipality so that the whole island would be part of the same municipality.^[8]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hjelmeland farm (Old Norse: Hjalmaland) since the first Hjelmeland Church was built there. Today the farm is a part of the Hjelmelandsvågen urban area. The first element of the name is the plural genitive case of hjalmr which means "helmet" (likely referring to two hills behind the farm which have the form of two helmets). The last element is land which means "land" or "farm".^[9]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 November 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, a triple saltire fretty Or" (Norwegian: På raud grunn ein gull Andreaskross, laga med trilling strengar). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of three interwoven St. Andrew's crosses. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. They are based on the local tradition of making chairs and other furniture with seats of woven twigs (jærstoler). The process of weaving is symbolised in the arms. At the same time the arms show the strength and solidarity of the municipality. Furthermore, there are three sets of crosses to represent the fact that Hjelmeland is made up of three previous municipalities (Hjemeland, Fister, and Årdal) that were merged in 1965. The arms were designed by Svein Magnus Håvarstein who based the idea from an initial idea by Magnus Torgersen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[10][11][12]

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Hjelmeland. It is part of the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Hjelmeland

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Fister	Fister Church	Fister	1867
Hjelmeland	Hjelmeland Church	Hjelmelandsvågen	1858
Årdal	Årdal Church	Årdal	1919
	Old Årdal Church	Årdal	1619

Government

Hjelmeland Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[13] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hjelmeland is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2023–2027 ^[14]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	2
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2019–2023 ^[15]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Green Party (Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	2
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2015–2019 ^[16]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	3
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2011–2015 ^[17]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	5
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2007–2011 ^[16]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	3
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	7
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 2003–2007 ^[16]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	5
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1999–2003 ^[16]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	1
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	6
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	5
	Joint list of the Liberal Party and independents (Fellesliste: Venstre og uavhengige)	4
Total number of members:		19

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1995–1999 ^[18]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	4
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1991–1995 ^[19]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	6
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	1
	Hjelmeland local party (Hjelmeland bygdeparti)	2
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1987–1991 ^[20]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	3
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	7
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	8
	Cross-party list (Tverrpolitisk liste)	2
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1983–1987 ^[21]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Progress Party (Framstegspartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	7
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Cross-party list (Tverrpolitisk liste)	2
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1979–1983 ^[22]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	7
	New People's Party (Nye Folkepartiet)	1
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Joint list of the Progress Party and Non-party Group (Framstaggspartiet og Upolitisk Gruppe)	1
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1975–1979 ^[23]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	7
	New People's Party (Nye Folkepartiet)	2
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	11
	Joint list of the Liberal Party and independents (Venstre og Upolitisk)	1
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1971–1975 ^[24]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	6
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	2
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1967–1971 ^[25]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	3
Total number of members:		25

Hjelmeland kommunestyre 1963–1967 ^[26]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	7
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	4
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
Total number of members:		17

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1959–1963 ^[27]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	1
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	10
Total number of members:		13

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1955–1959 ^[28]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	8
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	3
Total number of members:		17

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1951–1955 ^[29]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	4
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		16

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1947–1951 ^[30]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	1
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
Total number of members:		16

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1945–1947 ^[31]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	4
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister)	4
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	8
Total number of members:		16

Hjelmeland heradsstyre 1937–1941* ^[32]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister)	8
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	8
Total number of members:		16
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Hjelmeland (incomplete list):

• 1995-2007: Terje Thornquist (KrF)
• 2007-2011: Bjørn Laugaland (Sp)
• 2011-2015: Trine L. Danielsen (H)
• 2015-2022: Bjørn Laugaland (Sp)
• 2022-present: Anita Husøy Riskedal (Sp)

Geography

View of Årdal

The municipality stretches from the mountains bordering the Setesdal valley to the shores of the fjords that connect to the main Boknafjorden. The small Jøsenfjorden and Årdalsfjorden cut into the mainland. There are several islands that are part of Hjelmeland including Randøy as well as some smaller surrounding islands. The island of Randøy is connected to the mainland by the Randøy Bridge.

There are several large lakes in the municipality including Nilsebuvatnet, Øvre Tysdalsvatnet, and Tysdalsvatnet. The large lake Blåsjø partially lies in the municipality. The Trollgarden glacial moraine lies atop a mountain in Hjelmeland. The Ritland crater is also located in the municipality.

Notable people

• Jacob Tostrup (1806 in Hjelmeland – 1890), a jeweller, goldsmith, and silversmith
• Per Hovda (1908 in Hjelmeland – 1997), a philologist
• Per Pedersen Tjøstland (1918 in Fister - 2004), a Norwegian Nazi activist and SS volunteer
• Kjell Erfjord (born 1940 in Hjelmeland), a educator and politician who was mayor of Lund from 1981-1991 and 1999-2007

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
3. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
4. Store norske leksikon. "Hjelmeland" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 1 February 2016.
5. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
6. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
7. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
8. "Hele Ombo blir del av Nye Stavanger". Stavanger Aftenblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 June 2020.
9. Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 321 and 329.
10. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
11. "Hjelmeland, Rogaland (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
12. "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 30 November 1984. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
13. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
14. "Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Rogaland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
15. "Kommunestyrevalg 2019 – Rogaland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
16. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
17. "Kommunestyrevalg 2011 – Rogaland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
18. "Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
19. "Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
20. "Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
21. "Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
22. "Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
23. "Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
24. "Kommunevalgene 1972" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
25. "Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
26. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
27. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
28. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
29. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
30. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
31. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
32. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 30 June 2020.

External links

• The dictionary definition of Hjelmeland at Wiktionary
• Rogaland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Ryfylke tourist bureau