At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the 670-square-kilometre (260 sq mi) municipality is the 169th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Hemne is the 225th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,225. The municipality's population density is 6.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (17/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 0.2% over the last decade.[5][6]
General information
Hemne was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1911, the northern district of Heim (population: 1,533) was separated from Hemne to form a municipality of its own. This left Hemne with 3,425 residents. On 1 July 1924, Hemne was further divided with the eastern district of Snillfjord (population: 776) and the southern district of Vinje (population: 716) were separated from Hemne to form separate municipalities. After the division, Hemne had 2,030 residents remaining.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Vinje (population: 576) and the parts of Heim west of the Hemnfjorden (population: 711), were merged into Hemne.[7] On 1 January 2008, the Fossdalen farm (population: 4) was transferred from the neighboring municipality of Rindal (in Møre og Romsdal county) to Hemne (in Sør-Trøndelag county).[8]
On 1 January 2018, the municipality of Hemne switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Hemne merged with the Ytre Snillfjord area in the neighboring municipality of Snillfjord and the neighboring municipality of Halsa to form the new municipality of Heim (resurrecting an old name for the area).[9]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Hemnfjorden (Old Norse: Hefn) since flowed through the area. The name is derived from the word hǫfn which means "port" or "haven" (referring to the good port of Hemnskjel).[10] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hevne. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hemne.[11]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 14 June 1991 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Gules, five hazelnuts in annulo stems to center conjoined Or" (Norwegian: I rødt fem gull hasselnøtter forent i rosett). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is five hazelnuts in a circular arrangement with their stems connected in the centre. The hazelnet design has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design symbolizes the relatively large hazel forests in the municipality, which was historically important to the local economy. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold.[12][13][14][15]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hemne is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Hemne was bordered on the east by the municipalities of Snillfjord and Orkdal, on the south by Rindal (in Trøndelag county) and Surnadal (in Møre og Romsdal county), and in the west by Aure and Halsa (both in Møre og Romsdal county). To the north, across the waters of the Trondheimsleia lies the municipality of Hitra.
The Hemnfjorden forms the border between Hemne and Snillfjord. The Vinjefjorden is located in the southwestern side of the municipality and the lake Vasslivatnet lies in the southeast. In the south near Vinjeøra, there are several hiking trails to mountain lodges such as Sollia.
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