The 337-square-kilometre (130 sq mi) municipality is the 253rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tingvoll is the 225th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,031. The municipality's population density is 9.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (24/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.7% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
The parish of Tingvoll was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1866, the northern part of the municipality (population: 1,222) was separated to form the new Straumsnes Municipality. On 1 January 1874, a part of Stangvik Municipality (population: 61) was transferred to Tingvoll. On 1 January 1877, the Tiltereidet and Meisalstranden part of Tingvoll (population: 212) on the west side of the Sunndalsfjorden was transferred to Nesset Municipality. On 1 January 1880, the Torjulvågen area of Halsa Municipality (population: 240) was transferred to Tingvoll. On 1 January 1890, the Rausand area of Tingvoll (population: 101) was transferred to Nesset Municipality.[6]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Straumsnes (population: 1,160) and the part of Frei Municipality on the island of Aspøya (population: 147) were merged into Tingvoll. On 1 January 1965, the part of Tingvoll located on the western side of the Tingvollfjorden (population: 778) was transferred to Gjemnes Municipality and the Åsprong-Sandnes area near Meisingset (population: 26) was transferred from Stangvik Municipality to Tingvoll.[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tingvoll farm (Old Norse: Þingvǫllr) since the first Tingvoll Church was built there. The first element is þing which means "thing" or "assembly". The last element is vǫllr which means "meadow" or "flat ground" (so Tingvoll means "meeting place", like Þingvellir in Iceland).[7] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Tingvold. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Tingvoll.[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 7 September 1984. The official blazon is "Argent, five oak leaves vert in annulo stems to centre" (Norwegian: I sølv fem grønne eikeblad i rosett). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a group of five oakleaves arranged in a circle with their stems pointing to the centre. The oak leaves were chosen as a symbol since Norway's northernmost autochthonous oak forests can be found in the municipality. Each leaf represents one of the five main villages in the municipality: Tingvollvågen, Straumsnes, Gyl, Torjulvågen, and Meisingset. The arms were designed by Alvhild Ulseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
Eight or nine centuries ago, Tingvoll was the site of the NordmøreTing. There was a flat field there, which in Norwegian is called voll. It was here that meetings were held, called ting, thus the name Tingvoll. The name has the same origin as the Scottish town of Dingwall, the parliament of the Isle of Man Tynwald, the English town of Thingwall (which Norwegian Vikings colonised[12]), Wirral Peninsula, and Þingvellir in Iceland.
Tingvoll Church, also known as the Nordmøre Cathedral (Nordmørsdomen), was built around 1180 at the village of Tingvollvågen.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Tingvoll is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Tingvoll has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification), also known as a marine west coast climate. The wettest season is autumn and early winter. The driest season is spring. The average daily high temperature varies from about 3 °C (37 °F) in January and February to 19 °C (66 °F) in July. The all-time high is 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) recorded 9 July 2014.[35] In February 2001 a low of −18 °C (0 °F) was recorded. Earlier weather stations have recorded colder lows. The Tingvoll weather station started recording January 1992.
Tingvoll has been a self declared eco-municipality since 1990, when the municipal council (Kommunestyre) signed the declaration. The movement of eco-municipalities started among rural municipalities in Finland and later in Sweden in the 1980s. The idea was to inspire local economic and cultural development within a sustainable framework. In Tingvoll, the work started with a program for environmental education of the members of the council and the executive officers. The schools adapted national programs for environmental education.
A main part of the early years of eco-municipality, was the program for composting waste from the households. A new type of insulated bin was developed (Hagakompen) to assure composting could handle meat and fish waste, and work well in wintertime as well.
The Bioforsk Organic Food and Farming Division is located at Tingvoll.
