Editing Hitra Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Hitra old county borders.jpg|thumb|left|Map of the old municipal borders on the island of Hitra]]
[[File:Hopsoe.jpg|thumb|left|Hopsjøbrygga, Hitra]]
The [[prestegjeld]] of Hitra was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1877, the northern island of [[Frøya (island)|Frøya]] and its smaller surrounding islets (population: 3,949) was separated from Hitra to form the new [[Frøya Municipality]]. On 1 January 1886, the southern and eastern parts of Hitra Municipality were separated into a new [[Fillan Municipality]]. This left Hitra Municipality with 2,241 residents. Then on 1 January 1913, the western part of Hitra Municipality was separated to form the new [[Kvenvær Municipality]]. This left Hitra Municipality with 1,439 residents.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, Hitra Municipality (population: 1,344), [[Kvenvær Municipality]] (population: 840), [[Fillan Municipality]] (population: 1,759), and [[Sandstad Municipality]] (population: 1,028) were merged to form a new, larger Hitra Municipality.<ref name="Dag" />

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old [[Sør-Trøndelag]] county to the new [[Trøndelag]] county.

On 1 January 2020, the island of [[Hemnskjela]] and the northwestern corner of [[Snillfjord Municipality]] on the mainland was merged into Hitra Municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Velkommen Snillfjordinger |url=http://www.hitra.kommune.no/velkommen-snillfjordinger/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006062526/http://www.hitra.kommune.no/velkommen-snillfjordinger/ |archive-date=2017-10-06 |access-date=2017-10-05 |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Veien videre- Hitra, Snillfjord |url=http://www.snillfjord.kommune.no/veien-videre-hitra-snillfjord.413979.no.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530173348/http://www.snillfjord.kommune.no/veien-videre-hitra-snillfjord.413979.no.html |archive-date=30 May 2020 |access-date=2017-10-05 |publisher=Snillfjord kommune |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the island of [[Hitra (island)|Hitra]] ({{langx|non|Hitr}}). The name is probably derived from a word meaning "split" or "cleft" (referring to the many [[inlet]]s of the [[island]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |author-link=Oluf Rygh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGxBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |year=1901 |edition=14 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=63 |language=no}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Hitteren''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Hitra''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref> {{See also|Hidra (island){{!}}Hidra}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 7 August 1987. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], a stag's head [[couped]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|I blått et sølv hjortehode}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is the head of a [[stag]]. The stag's head has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea for the island municipality. The design of the stag's head symbolizes that Hitra is home to one of [[Northern Europe]]'s largest populations of [[red deer]]. The arms were based on an idea by Ketil Gylland from Fillan and drawn by the designer Einar Skjervold from Trondheim.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Hitra |access-date=2023-02-12 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hitra, South Trøndelag (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-16-17.html |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-08-07 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-08-07-666 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> {{See also|Coat of arms of Gjemnes|Coat of arms of Hjartdal|Coat of arms of Voss}}

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has two parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Hitra Municipality. It is part of the [[Orkdal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nidaros]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Hitra'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="4"|Hitra og Fillan||[[Hitra Church]]||[[Melandsjøen]]||1927
|-
|[[Dolm Church]]||[[Dolmøya]]||1188
|-
|[[Fillan Church]]||[[Fillan, Norway|Fillan]]||1789
|-
|[[Nordbotn Church]]||[[Nordbotn, Trøndelag|Nordbotn]]||1900
|-
|rowspan="3"|Kvenvær og Sandstad||[[Kvenvær Church]]||[[Kvenvær]]||1909
|-
|[[Forsnes Chapel]]||[[Forsnes]]||1935
|-
|[[Sandstad Church]]||[[Sandstad]]||1888
|}