Editing Meland (section)

==General information==
[[File:Meland satellite.jpg|thumb|left|Satellite view of the island of Holsnøy]]
[[File:BygdeskøyteLandvik17 01.jpg|thumb|left|View of a wedding boat at Holsnøy]]
[[File:Krossnessundet-bru.jpg|thumb|left|View of Krossnessund Bridge (back) and Nordhordland Bridge (front)]]
[[File:Meland kirke3.JPG|thumb|left|View of the local church]]
On 15 October 1923, the western part of the municipality of [[Alversund (municipality)|Alversund]] was separated to create the new municipality of Meland. Initially, Meland had a population of 1,716. Meland was one of many municipalities in Norway that were created for geographical reasons: Meland was separated from the rest of Alversund by the [[Radfjorden]], and transportation between the different parts of the municipality was unreliable and time-consuming. The creation of the municipality was approved in 1922, and the first election for the municipal council was held 23 August 1923, with the municipality becoming official on 15 October 1923. Meland encompassed the southern two-thirds of the island of [[Holsnøy]] (the northern third belonged to [[Herdla]] municipality), a small area on the northeast coast of the island of [[Askøy (island)|Askøy]], as well as some very small surrounding islands.<ref name="femtiår_3">{{Cite book |last=Flatøy |first=Olav |title=Meland kommune gjennom 50 år : 1923-1973 |publisher=Meland kommune |year=1973 |isbn=82-990268-0-6 |location=Meland |pages=23–26 |language=no}}</ref><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>

In 1962, the [[Schei Committee]] concluded its survey of the organization of Norway's municipalities. The committee recommended enlarging Meland municipality by transferring the northern part of Holsnøy and the minor island of Øpsøy (population: 811) from Herdla municipality to Meland and at the same time the island of [[Flatøy]] (population: 166) was transferred from [[Hamre (municipality)|Hamre]] municipality to Meland. Simultaneously, Meland would lose the parts of the municipality located on the island of [[Askøy (island)|Askøy]] and that area would go to [[Askøy Municipality]]. Hordaland county approved the move, and the border changes came into effect on 1 January 1964.<ref name="Dag" /> A proposal to change the name of Meland municipality to "Holsenøy" was rejected.<ref name="femtiår_1">{{Cite book |last=Flatøy |first=Olav |title=Meland kommune gjennom 50 år : 1923-1973 |publisher=Meland kommune |year=1973 |isbn=82-990268-0-6 |location=Meland |pages=60–61 |language=no}}</ref> Hamre and Herdla municipalities ceased to exist, and their territory was divided between the municipalities of [[Lindås]], [[Osterøy]], and Meland, and Askøy, [[Øygarden]], and Meland, respectively.<ref name="femtiår_2">{{Cite book |last=Flatøy |first=Olav |title=Meland kommune gjennom 50 år : 1923-1973 |publisher=Meland kommune |year=1973 |isbn=82-990268-0-6 |location=Meland |pages=15–17 |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |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}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Meland, [[Radøy]], and [[Lindås]] were merged into a large, new municipality called [[Alver (municipality)|Alver]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ein kommune |url=https://einkommune.no/ |access-date=2017-10-26 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Meland (village)|Meland]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Meðalland}}) in the south-central part of the island of [[Holsnøy]]. The first element is {{wikt-lang|non|meðal}} which means "middle" or "amongst". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|land}} which means "land" or "farm". Therefore the name as a whole roughly means "the farm that is located in the middle (of the island)". Historically, the name was spelled ''Mæland''.<ref name="stadnamnleksikon">{{Cite book |last1=Stemshaug |first1=Ola |title=Norsk stadnamnleksikon |last2=Sandnes, Jørn |last3=Aune, Kolbjørn |publisher=[[Det Norske Samlaget]] |year=1990 |isbn=82-521-3477-7 |edition=3 |location=Oslo |pages=218 |language=no}}</ref><ref name="bbl1">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1994 |title=Meland |encyclopedia=[[Bergen Byleksikon]] |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |location=Oslo |last=Hartvedt |first=Gunnar Hagen |pages=35 |language=no |isbn=82-573-0485-9}}</ref><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 |pages=365 and 67 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 15 May 1987 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], an [[Auger (drill)|auger]] [[palewise]] issuant from [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|På raud grunn ein kvit navar-spiss som vender nedover}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a local type of [[Auger (drill)|auger]] which is used in [[carpentry]]. The auger 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. This design was chosen because in the 1850s, auger manufacturing started in the municipality, and the local drills were considered to be high quality. The design was meant to symbolize and emphasize the local traditions to be proud of and skills to be keep alive. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. 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=Meland |access-date=2023-06-25 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meland, Hordaland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-56.html |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-05-15 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-05-15-433 |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> 

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] had one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Meland. It is part of the [[Nordhordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Meland'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Meland||[[Meland Church]]||[[Meland (village)|Meland]]||1866
|}