Fjord Municipality
Fjord kommune
Municipality
Stordal
Stordal
Coat of arms of Fjord Municipality
Coat of arms
Møre og Romsdal within Norway
Møre og Romsdal within Norway
Fjord within Møre og Romsdal
Fjord within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 62°18′13″N 7°15′28″E / 62.3037°N 7.2578°E / 62.3037; 7.2578
CountryNorway
CountyMøre og Romsdal
DistrictSunnmøre
Established1 Jan 2020
 • Preceded byStordal and Norddal
Administrative centreStordal
Government
 • Mayor (2020)Eva Hove (Ap)
Area
 • Total1,190.58 km2 (459.69 sq mi)
 • Land1,144.06 km2 (441.72 sq mi)
 • Water46.52 km2 (17.96 sq mi)  3.9%
 • Rank#92 in Norway
Population
 (2022)
 • Total2,491
 • Rank#253 in Norway
 • Density2.2/km2 (6/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Decrease −9.9%
Official language
[1]
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1578[2]
WebsiteOfficial website
Data from Statistics Norway

Fjord is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stordal. Other villages in the municipality include Valldal, Eidsdal, Norddal, Tafjord, Fjørå/Selboskarbygda, Sylte. The name Fjord is a common word and name part in Norway and was chosen for the new municipality established in 2020 for reasons of search engine optimization, despite not having any historical tradition in the municipality.[3]

The 1,191-square-kilometre (460 sq mi) municipality is the 92nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fjord is the 253rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,491. The municipality's population density is 2.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.7/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 9.9% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 after the government of Norway approved the merger of the two neighboring municipalities of Stordal (population: 972) and Norddal (population: 1,670).[6]

Name

The municipality was named Fjord to signify its location at the inner part of the Storfjorden. The name Fjord has no historical basis or tradition in the area; according to the municipality, the name was chosen in 2020 because of a desire to optimize search engine results and that it wanted Google results for the common word "fjord" to be dominated by the municipality in order to attract tourists.[3]

The official Language Council of Norway criticized the name of the municipality and stated that "fjord is a common word that has been appropriated as the name of a municipality, which we opposed." The council also stated that it is an important principle that municipal names should be based on names with a historical tradition in the area, and that "invented names" with no tradition such as Fjord are unfortunate.[3]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 October 2019 to be used starting on 1 January 2020 upon the establishment of the new municipality. The arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is four parallelogram shapes on the left and right sides of the escutcheon that extend off the shield. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen to represent the mountains on either side of the Storfjorden which flows through the municipality. The blue color in the field symbolizes the water and sky while the white shapes represent the snowy mountains surrounding the water. The arms were designed by Dag Øistein Endsjø. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[7][8]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Fjord: Norddal and Stordal. The municipality is part of the Austre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Fjord
Parish (sokn)Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtPhoto
NorddalNorddal ChurchNorddal1782
Sylte ChurchSylte1863
StordalStordal ChurchStordal1907
Old Stordal Church
(Rosekyrkja*)		Stordal1789
*Rosekyrkja has been a museum church since 1908.

Geography

Tafjord

Fjord municipality is located along the inner Storfjorden and around the Norddalsfjorden and the Tafjorden which flow west to east. The majority of the municipality lies east and south of the fjord, while a small previously inhabited mountainous area on the west side of the fjord is also part of Fjord. Ytste Skotet is a preserved historic farm/museum that is located on the steep mountainsides on the west side of the fjord. Most of the municipality surrounds the Stordalen valley and the Valldalen valley, both on the east side of the fjord.[9]

The large Valldalen valley runs to the northeast from the Norddalsfjorden. The valleys are surrounded by the Tafjordfjella mountain range. The mountains Puttegga, Karitinden, and Tordsnose sit on the eastern border of the municipality. The mountain Høgstolen lies in the northern part of the municipality. Reinheimen National Park is located partially in the municipality of Fjord. Tafjorden is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site West Norwegian Fjords.

Climate

Norwegian Meteorological Institute has recorded temperature in Tafjord since 1925, documenting a temperate oceanic climate (marine west coast climate; Köppen climate zone: Cfb). The all-time high 33.8 °C or 92.8 °F was recorded July 1945, and the all-time low −16.6 °C or 2.1 °F in January 1942. Tafjord, in a narrow fjord area surrounded by high mountains, often experiences foehn in winter when strong Atlantic lows pushes mild air towards the coast. Tafjord has the national high for November with 21.8 °C or 71.2 °F, and previously had the national high in several of the winter months, but in later years Sunndalsøra further north has seen even warmer highs in winter. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in spring is 17 April[10] and average date for first freeze in autumn is 24 October[11] giving a frost-free season of 189 days (1981-2010 average).

Climate data for Tafjord 1991-2020 (11 m, extremes 1930-2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.9
(64.2)		 17.1
(62.8)		 18.1
(64.6)		 21.2
(70.2)		 27.7
(81.9)		 31.8
(89.2)		 33.8
(92.8)		 30.6
(87.1)		 26.5
(79.7)		 25.5
(77.9)		 21.8
(71.2)		 17.7
(63.9)		 33.8
(92.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 5
(41)		 4.5
(40.1)		 6.7
(44.1)		 11.1
(52.0)		 15.2
(59.4)		 18
(64)		 20
(68)		 19.3
(66.7)		 15.8
(60.4)		 11
(52)		 7.8
(46.0)		 5.4
(41.7)		 11.7
(53.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.9
(35.4)		 1.4
(34.5)		 3.3
(37.9)		 6.7
(44.1)		 9.9
(49.8)		 12.7
(54.9)		 15
(59)		 14.6
(58.3)		 11.7
(53.1)		 7.7
(45.9)		 4.8
(40.6)		 2.2
(36.0)		 7.7
(45.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −0.6
(30.9)		 −1.1
(30.0)		 0.4
(32.7)		 3.2
(37.8)		 6
(43)		 9.1
(48.4)		 11.7
(53.1)		 11.5
(52.7)		 8.5
(47.3)		 4.8
(40.6)		 2.2
(36.0)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 4.6
(40.3)
Record low °C (°F) −16.6
(2.1)		 −15.4
(4.3)		 −14.1
(6.6)		 −7
(19)		 −2
(28)		 0.6
(33.1)		 3.5
(38.3)		 2.1
(35.8)		 −1.6
(29.1)		 −7.7
(18.1)		 −10.8
(12.6)		 −15
(5)		 −16.6
(2.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 123.2
(4.85)		 99.1
(3.90)		 94.1
(3.70)		 55.7
(2.19)		 44
(1.7)		 56.2
(2.21)		 55.3
(2.18)		 66.7
(2.63)		 89.9
(3.54)		 99
(3.9)		 105.2
(4.14)		 123.1
(4.85)		 1,011.5
(39.79)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 13 12 12 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 11 14 136
Source 1: yr.no/eklima (means, precipitation, extremes - data by met.no)[12]
Source 2: NOAA - WMO averages 91-2020 Norway [13]

Government

All municipalities in Norway are 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.[14] The municipality falls under the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fjord is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Fjord kommunestyre 2020–2023 [15]  
Party name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 5
  Progress Party (Framstegspartiet) 1
  Conservative Party (Høgre) 6
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 1
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 8
  Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti) 2
Total number of members:23

Mayors

The mayors of Fjord:

  • 2020–present: Eva Hove (Ap)

Notable people

  • Martin Linge, DSC (1894 in Norddal – 1941) an actor, he worked for SOE in WWII
  • Marta Schumann (1919 in Valldal – 1994) a novelist, poet and short story writer
  • Almar Heggen (1933 in Norddal – 2014) a Norwegian opera singer
  • Stian Omenås (born 1980 in Valldal) a Norwegian jazz musician (trumpet), music conductor and composer

References

  1. ↑ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  2. ↑ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  3. 1 2 3 "Orten Trovåg, Einar (30 September 2018). "Trassar Språkrådet for å få fleire Google-treff". NRK (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  5. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
  6. ↑ "Fjord kommune" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "Kommunevåpen". Fjord kommune (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (26 February 2020). "Fjord". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "Siste frostnatt om våren". 4 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Første frostnatt". 25 September 2013.
  12. ↑ "www.yr.no".
  13. ↑ "NOAA WMO normals Norway 1991-2020".
  14. ↑ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Tall for Norge: Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Møre og Romsdal" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. Retrieved 19 October 2019.

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