Volda Explained

Volda
Former Name:Volden herred
Idnumber:1577
County:Møre og Romsdal
District:Sunnmøre
Capital:Volda
Established:1 Jan 1838
Preceded:none
Demonym:Volding
Language:Nynorsk
Coatofarms:volda komm 2020.svg
Flag:none
Webpage:www.volda.kommune.no
Mayor:Sølvi Dimmen
Mayor Party:Sp
Mayor As Of:2019
Area Rank:132
Area Total Km2:876.85
Area Land Km2:833.63
Area Water Km2:43.24
Area Water Percent:4.9
Population As Of:2023
Population Rank:105
Population Total:10960
Population Density Km2:13.1
Population Increase:8.9
Coordinates:62.0878°N 6.0142°W
Utm Zone:32V
Utm Northing:6887551
Utm Easting:0344108
Geo Cat:adm2nd

Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and Grodås. The municipality is located about south of the town of Ålesund.

The 877km2 municipality is the 132nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Volda is the 105th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 10,960. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 8.9% over the previous 10-year period.[1] [2]

General information

The municipality of Volden was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was the same as the parish (prestegjeld) of Volden, including the sub-parishes of Ørsta and Dalsfjord. On 1 August 1883, the sub-parish of Ørsta (population: 2,070) was separated from Volden to form a new municipality of its own. This left Volden with 3,485 residents. On 1 January 1893, the Ytrestølen farm in the Ørsta municipality (population: 13) was transferred to Volden municipality. In 1918, the name was changed from Volden to Volda.[3]

On 1 July 1924, the sub-parish of Dalsfjord (population: 960) was separated from Volda to become a municipality of its own. This left Volda with 4,715 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 Dalsfjord (population: 1,151) and Volda (population: 6,056) were merged back together. The new Volda municipality had 7,207 residents.

On 1 January 2020, another large municipal border adjustment took place. The neighboring municipality of Hornindal (previously in Sogn og Fjordane county) and the Bjørke and Leira areas of Ørsta were merged with Volda to make a much larger Volda Municipality (in Møre og Romsdal county).[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Voldsfjorden (Norse, Old: Vǫld or Norse, Old: Valdr). The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it may come from which means "gush" or "roar" or from another word meaning "wave". It could be compared with the which means "wave".[5] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Volden. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Volda.[6]

Coat of arms

The original coat of arms was granted on 19 June 1987 and they were in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was greatly enlarged. The official blazon was "Azure, a downwards pointing fountain pen nib argent" (Norwegian: På blå grunn ein nedvend sølv pennesplitt). This means the arms had a blue field (background) and the charge was the tip of a fountain pen. The charge had a tincture of argent which means it was commonly colored white, but if it was made out of metal, then silver was used. This design was chosen to symbolize the long history of education in Volda - it was the site of the first secondary school outside of a major city in Norway. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[7] [8] [9]

The current coat of arms was approved in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 when Hornindal Municipality and part of Ørsta Municipality were added to Volda. The official blazon is "Azure, a downwards pointing fountain pen nib flanked by two scythes endorsed argent". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the tip of a fountain pen with a scythe on each side. 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 arms from 1987 were modified by adding two scythes on either side of the tip of a fountain pen. The scythes were taken from the old arms of the former municipality of Hornindal. Hornindal historically had large numbers of smiths and their scythe production was well known in the wider region. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[10]

Churches

The Church of Norway has six parishes (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Volda. It is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Volda!Parish (Norwegian: sokn)!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
AustefjordAustefjord ChurchFyrde1773
DalsfjordDalsfjord ChurchDravlaus1910
HornindalHornindal ChurchGrodås1856
KilsfjordKilsfjord ChurchStraumshamn1974
StorfjordenBjørke ChurchBjørke1919
VoldaVolda ChurchVolda1932

Geography

Volda's main geographical feature is the Voldsfjorden which branches off into the Austefjorden, Kilsfjorden, and Dalsfjorden. It is also mountainous, particularly southeast of the fjords, with the Sunnmørsalpene mountains surrounding the region. The 1482m (4,862feet) tall mountain Eidskyrkja is located in the southeastern part of the municipality.

Volda is bordered by municipalities of: Vanylven Municipality to the south-west/west; Herøy and Ulstein (only by sea) to the west; Ørsta to the north and east; and Stryn and Stad, in Vestland county, to the south.

The dominant centre, both in terms of population and administration, is the village of Volda, in the northernmost part of the municipality. Other population concentrations include Mork, Ekset, Folkestad, Fyrde, Steinsvika, Lauvstad, Bjørkedal, Grodås, and Straumshamn.

Some of the mountains in Volda include Hornindalsrokken, Kvitegga, and Jakta.

Government

Volda 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.[11] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Norwegian: Kommunestyre) of Volda is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian Nynorsk; Nynorsk, Norwegian: ordførar) of Volda:

Culture

Volda is primarily known for strong cultural heritage and academic traditions. A private library at Egset, the first rural of its kind in Norway, is said to have inspired the young Ivar Aasen in the 19th century. Martin Ulvestad, Norwegian - American author who published an English-Danish-Norwegian dictionary in 1895, (Engelsk-Dansk-Norsk Ordbog med fuldstændig Udtalebetegnelse) was born in Volda. The Norsk Landboeblad newspaper was based in Volda in the 1800s. Volda landsgymnas (established 1910) was the first Norwegian secondary school outside a major city. Among the most important institutions today is the Volda University College.

Volda University College (HVO) is one of 25 university colleges in Norway. HVO, with an enrollment of about 3,000 students, specializes in education of teachers, animators, and journalists. This has attracted or incubated several animation companies to Volda, whose work is highlighted in the annual Animation Volda Festival, which started at HVO in 2007.[12] HVO is host of the annual Norwegian Documentary Film Festival (DOKFILM), which started in 1997.[13]

The national ski festival X2 is also held in Volda during April every year.

The Volda TI sports club includes an association football team, whose home field is Volda Stadion. The football squad has consistently played in the 2. divisjon to 4. divisjon leagues (tiers three to five of the Norwegian football league system) for a number of decades.

As a logical consequence of the huge influx of students, as well as a county hospital, public services are by far the most dominant sector, representing almost 50% of economic life in Volda. Industry and agriculture are also prevalent. Bjørkedalen is noted for its tradition in building wooden boats.

The Sivert Aarflot Museum is located at Ekset in Volda.[14] Volda and its environs are featured prominently in the film Troll Hunter (2010).

Transportation

The Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden, is located in neighbouring municipality of Ørsta, just north of the village of Volda. The European route E39 highway passes north through the municipality on its way to the city of Ålesund. As noted, the municipality is criss-crossed by fjords; therefore, both Lauvstad and Folkestad are linked to the population centre Volda by ferry. In February 2008, the underwater Eiksund Tunnel connected the municipalities of Ulstein, Hareid, Herøy, and Sande to Ørsta and Volda. The tunnel is the deepest undersea tunnel in the world. The Kviven Tunnel was completed in 2012, connecting Fyrde to the village of Grodås to the south on the other side of a large mountain. This tunnel led to the old Hornindal Municipality joining Volda in 2020.

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M) . Norwegian.
  2. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . 09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M) . Norwegian.
  3. Book: Jukvam, Dag . Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen . . 1999 . 9788253746845 . no.
  4. Web site: Nye Volda . 2017-10-20 . no.
  5. Book: Rygh, Oluf . Oluf Rygh

    . Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt . 1908 . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 13 . Kristiania, Norge . 67 . no . Oluf Rygh.

  6. 1917 . Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m . . no . Kristiania, Norge . Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri . 1057–1065.
  7. Web site: Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen . 2023-04-15 . Heraldry of the World.
  8. Web site: Volda, Møre og Romsdal (Norway) . 2023-04-15 . Flags of the World.
  9. Web site: 1987-06-19 . Godkjenning av våpen og flagg . 2023-04-15 . Lovdata.no . Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet . no.
  10. Web site: Forslag til kommunevåpen og alle innsende forslag . 2020-02-09 . NyeVolda.no . no.
  11. Encyclopedia: kommunestyre . . . 2022-09-20 . Hansen . Tore . Norwegian . Vabo . Signy Irene . 2022-10-14.
  12. Web site: Animation Volda Festival: About Us . 2020-12-29 . Animation Volda Festival.
  13. Web site: 2020-12-29 . About DOKFILM . 2020-12-29 . DOKFILM.
  14. Web site: Sivert Aarflot Museum, Volda . February 1, 2018 . Stiftinga Sunnmøre Museum.
  15. . Retrieved 16 February 2021.