Hitra is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and hundreds smaller

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s, islets, and

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

. It is part of the

Fosen Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan Åfjord, Ørland, Indre Fosen, Orkland, Heim, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow a ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality is the village of Fillan. Other villages include Andersskogan, Ansnes,

Forsnes Forsnes is a village in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the southwestern corner of the island of Hitra, along the Trondheimsleia. It is about south of the village of Kvenvær and about west of the vill ...

Hestvika Hestvika is a village in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on the eastern tip of the island of Hitra along the Trondheimsleia, about east of the village of Sandstad and the entrance to the Hitra Tunn ...

Knarrlagsund Knarrlagsund or Knarrlaget is a village on the island of Ulvøya in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the southern part of the island about east of the village of Ulvan. The village lies along the Knarrl ...

Kvenvær Kvenvær is a fishing village in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern coast of the island of Hitra. It is just south of the Bispøyan islands. The Kvenvær Church is located in the vill ...

Melandsjøen Melandsjøen or Melandsjø is a village in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on the north shore of the island of Hitra, just across the strait from the island of Dolmøya. Melandsjøen was the admi ...

, Nordbotn,

Sandstad Sandstad is a village in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Trondheimsleia on the southeastern coast of the island of Hitra, about southwest of the village of Hestvika. The north entrance to the ...

, and Ulvan. The municipality is the 149th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hitra is the 179th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,156. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is and its population has increased by 14.6% over the previous 10-year period. Hitra is famous in Norway for its large and dense population of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

(as symbolised in its coat of arms — see image right). Hitra is a member of the International Island Games Association.

General information

The

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Hitra was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). On 1 January 1877, the northern island 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

. 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 The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Hitra,

, Fillan, and

were merged to form a new, larger Hitra municipality. Prior to the merger, Hitra had 1,344 residents. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

county to the new

county. On 1 January 2020, the island of Hemnskjela and the northwestern corner of the mainland municipality of Snillfjord was merged into Hitra.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was ''Hitr''. The name is probably derived from a word with the meaning "split" or "cleft" (referring to the many

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

s of the

). Until 1918, the name of the island and municipality was spelled ''Hitteren''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 7 August 1987. The arms show the head of a

in silver on a blue background. It symbolizes one of

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

's largest populations of red deer which is located in the municipality.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has two parishes () within the municipality of Hitra. It is part of the

Orkdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Hitra, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The municipality falls under the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

() of Hitra is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Geography

Hitra is the seventh largest island of mainland Norway. It is bordered by the municipality of Frøya to the north and the mainland municipalities of

Hemne Hemne is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was incorporated into Heim Municipality. It was part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the mun ...

and Snillfjord to the south. It lies between the Trondheimsleia strait and the

Frøyfjorden The Frøyfjorden is a strait between the islands of Frøya and Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The long strait is rather shallow, only about at its deepest. The Frøya Tunnel goes beneath the fjord from Hammarvika in Frøya Municipali ...

. The tall

Mørkdalstuva Mørkdalstuva or Mørkdalstua is the tallest mountain on the island of Hitra in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The tall mountain lies on the western side of the island, about northeast of the village of Forsnes and sou ...

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 Dolmøya is an island in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is located in the Frøyfjorden, just north of the village of Melandsjøen on the island of Hitra. The island of Dolmøya is flat, swampy, and has very ...

Helgbustadøya Helgbustadøya (sometimes ''Helgebustad'' or ''Helgebostad'') is an island in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is an island located in the Straumsfjorden just off the northwestern coast of the island of Hitra, just east ...

, and

Bispøyan Bispøyan is a group of islands in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. They are located north of the village of Kvenvær on the island of Hitra, and northwest of the island of Helgbustadøya. The largest islands include Bur� ...

. The Børøyholmen Lighthouse and Terningen Lighthouse are located in the Trondheimsleia in the southeast part of Hitra municipality.

Transportation

The company ''Kystekspressen'' runs

westamaran The Westamaran is a pioneer type of passenger transport high speed catamarans developed by Westermoen Hydrofoil in 1973. The craft was highly successful, and introduced a new era of passenger transport along the Norwegian coast and elsewhere. ...

services from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

and Kristiansund. The long

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry li ...

called the '' Hitratunnelen'' connects the island of Hitra to the mainland to the south and the long

Frøya Tunnel The Frøya Tunnel ( no, Frøyatunnelen) is an undersea tunnel connecting the municipalities of Frøya and Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The tunnel is located about south of the village of Sistranda on Frøya. The long road tunnel reach ...

connects Hitra to the neighboring island of Frøya to the north.

Energy

There is a

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

in the central part of the island,

Hitra Wind Farm Hitra Wind Farm is a 24-turbine wind farm located in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway and operated by Statkraft. The farm is located on top of the Elsfjellet plateau in the central part of the island of Hitra, just south of ...

, founded in 2004, which has 24

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s which produce a total of .

Notable people

Margaret Berger, ESC2013 press conference 01 (crop)

* Simon Michelet (1863–1942) a Norwegian theologian, teacher and academic; brought up in Hitra * John Aalmo (1902–1981) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of

1934 to 1957 * Martin Skaaren (1905 in Hitra – 1999) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of

municipality 1945 to 1961 *

Kjerstin Øvrelid Kjerstin Marie Øvrelid (March 16, 1929 – January 1989) was a Norwegian painter. She was known for her poetic paintings of flowers and depictions of the sea and skerries, usually those seen from Holmesund, northeast of Arendal, where she had he ...

(1929 in Hitra – 1989) a Norwegian painter of flowers and the sea and skerries *

Knut Børø Knut Tore Børø (born 28 September 1948 in Hitra, Sør-Trøndelag) is a retired Norwegian long-distance runner who specialized in 5000 and 10,000 metres. He represented Strindheim IL. At the 1974 European Championships he finished eleventh in t ...

(born 1948 in Hitra) a retired 5,000 and 10,000 metres runner; competed in the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Rita Ottervik Rita Irene Ottervik (born 11 September 1966 in Hitra) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party who has served as the mayor of Trondheim since 2003. She has served as a secretary in the Workers' Youth League and political advisor at the ...

(born 1966 in Hitra) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Trondheim since 2003 * Anders Jektvik (born 1982 in Hitra) a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist *

Margaret Berger Margaret Berger (born 11 October 1985) is a Norway, Norwegian singer, songwriter, music director, and DJ. She made her debut on Sony BMG after she placed second on the Idol (Norway)#Season 2, second season of ''Idol (Norway), Norwegian Idol'' in ...

(born 1985) a Norwegian singer, songwriter, music director and DJ; brought up in Hitra

References

External links

Hitra Windpark

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Trøndelag 1838 establishments in Norway States and territories established in 1838