Jelsa (municipality)

Jelsa is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 130-square-kilometre (50 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until 1965. It encompassed area that surrounds the Sandsfjorden in the present-day municipalities of Suldal, Hjelmeland, and Stavanger. The administrative centre was the village of Jelsa, where Jelsa Church is located.^[2]

Jelsa Municipality Jelsa herred
Former municipality
Jælse herred  (historic name)
View of Jelsa Church, the main church for the municipality
Rogaland within Norway
Jelsa within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°20′N 06°04′E
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Ryfylke
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1965
• Succeeded by	Suldal, Hjelmeland, and Finnøy municipalities
Administrative centre	Jelsa
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	130 km2 (50 sq mi)
Population  (1965)
• Total	1,025
• Density	7.9/km2 (20/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1138[1]
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The parish of Jælse was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1859, the municipality was split, with the northern district becoming the municipality of Sand. The split left Jelsa with a population of 2,606. On 1 January 1914, the eastern district was split off as the new municipality of Erfjord. This left Jelsa with 1,539 residents.^[3]

On 1 January 1965 the municipality of Jelsa was dissolved due to recommendations by the Schei Committee. The majority of Jelsa (population: 928) was merged with the municipalities of Erfjord, Sand, and Suldal to form a new, enlarged Suldal Municipality. At the same time, the Buergårdene area (population: 8) on the island of Ombo was moved to Hjelmeland Municipality, and the rest of the island of Ombo that belonged to Jelsa (population: 89) was moved to Finnøy Municipality.^[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Jelsa farm (Old Norse: Jalsa) since the first Jelsa Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is probably the old name for the Jelsafjorden. It is possible that the name comes from the word jálmr which means "noise". Another possibility is that it comes from the Shetland word jāl which means "scream" or "screech" (particularly referring to the noise a seagull makes). Historically, the name was spelled Jælse.^[4][2]

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[5]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Jelsa was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Jelsa herredsstyre 1964 ^[6]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	6
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	8
Total number of members:		17

Jelsa herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[7]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	9
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		17

Jelsa herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[8]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	17
Total number of members:		17

Jelsa herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[9]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16

Jelsa herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16

Jelsa herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16

Jelsa herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
2. Store norske leksikon. "Jelsa – tidligere kommune" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
3. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
4. Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 339–340.
5. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
6. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 30 July 2020.