Country Norway District Nordmøre Area rank 278 in Norway Area 301 km² Local time Wednesday 9:32 AM | County Møre og Romsdal Administrative centre Liabøen Demonym(s) Halsabygg Population 1,606 (2013) Official language form Norwegian Language | |
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Weather 2°C, Wind W at 34 km/h, 73% Humidity Points of interest Geitbåt Museum, Saksa, Langstranda, Sanden, Langkunesset, Sannan, Hamnasanden | ||
Halsa is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre of Halsa is the village of Liabøen. Other villages in the municipality include Halsanaustan, Valsøyfjord, Engan, Hjellnes, and Valsøybotnen.
Contents
Map of Halsa, Norway
General information
Halsa was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1868, an unpopulated area of Halsa was transferred to Straumsnes. On 1 January 1879, a part of Halsa (population: 279) was transferred to Stangvik. The next year, the Torjulvågen area (population: 240) across the Halsafjorden was transferred to Tingvoll Municipality. On 1 July 1915, part of southern Halsa (population: 114) was transferred to Åsskard Municipality. On 1 January 1965, all of the municipality Valsøyfjord that was located on the mainland (population: 1,104) was merged into Halsa. On 1 January 1976, the district of Aure Municipality south of the Vinjefjorden (population: 158) was transferred to Halsa Municipality.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Halsa farm (Old Norse: Hǫlsyinjar), since the first church (Halsa Church) was built there. The first element is hals which means "neck" and the last element is the plural form of vin which means "meadow" or "pasture". Here, the word hals is referring to an isthmus (neck of land) between two fjords: Halsafjorden and the Skålvik Fjord. Before 1918, the name was written "Halse".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 August 1988. The gray and blue motif represents the three fjords and headlands of the municipality.
Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Halsa. It is part of the Indre Nordmøre deanery in the Diocese of Møre.
Geography
Halsa has numerous fjords in and around the municipality including the Halsafjorden, Vinjefjorden, Arasvikfjorden, the Skålvik Fjord, and Valsøyfjorden. The Valsøy Bridge crosses the Valsøyfjorden. There are ferry connections to Tingvoll Municipality to the west and to Aure Municipality to the north.
Attractions
Halsa is the location where the famous killer whale, Keiko, went when he was set free. Keiko died in December 2003 and was buried there. The people of Halsa have built a memorial cairn over Keiko's body, where people from all over the world are free to visit him. In the first year after his burial, 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.