Editing Masfjorden (section)

==General information==
[[File:Sandnes kyrkje.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sandnes Church (Hordaland)|Sandnes Church]]]]
[[File:Haugsdal, Masfjorden - no-nb digifoto 20160304 00295 bldsa L KK0022 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|View of the Haugsdal valley in Masfjorden]]
The parish of Masfjorden was established as a municipality on 1 March 1879 when it was separated from the large municipality of [[Lindås]]. Masfjorden was the northern part of Lindås, and its initial population was 2,336. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the Einestrand, Eikebotn, and Kikallen area along the [[Austfjorden (Hordaland)|Austfjorden]] (population: 25) was transferred from Lindås to Masfjorden.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the [[Masfjorden (fjord)|Masfjorden]] ({{langx|non|Matrsfjǫrðr}}) since that fjord is a central geographical feature of the municipality. The first element is the [[genitive case]] of the old (uncompounded) name of the fjord: ''Matr''. That name is identical to the word {{wikt-lang|non|matr}} which means "food". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|fjǫrðr}} which means "[[fjord]]" or "[[firth]]". Therefore, the meaning of the name is "the fjord that's full of food (fish)". The village of [[Matre]] lies at the inner end of the fjord, and that name has a similar origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud5LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt |date=1910 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=11 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=430 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 28 September 1990. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules (heraldry)|Gules]], three clasps [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] [[Pall (heraldry)|in pall]]"'' ({{langx|no|På raud grunn tre gule heldrer stilte i trepass}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is three {{lang|no|heldrer}}, traditional tools made of wood for fastening a [[rope]] around a load. The charge has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. They are meant to symbolize unity as well as the importance of [[forestry]]. The arms were designed by Rune Garmann. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Masfjorden |access-date=2023-05-18 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Masfjorden, Hordaland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-66.html |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1990-12-09 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1990-09-28-819 |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> {{See also-text|Coat of arms of [[Øyer#Coat of arms|Øyer]]}}

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Masfjorden. It is part of the [[Nordhordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]]. Prior to 2020, the municipality had three parishes (Frøyset, Sandnes, and Solheim).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Møteprotokoll |url=https://kirken.no/globalassets/bispedommer/bjorgvin/dokumenter/bispedomeradet/2016-2019/bdr-protokoll-19-02-19.pdf |publisher=Bjørgvin bispedømme |language=no}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Masfjorden'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Masfjorden||[[Frøyset Church]]||[[Frøyset]]||1937
|-
|[[Sandnes Church (Hordaland)|Sandnes Church]]||[[Masfjordnes]]||1845
|-
|[[Solheim Church (Masfjorden)|Solheim Church]]||[[Solheim, Hordaland|Solheim]]||1881
|}