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Norddal Municipality

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Norddal Municipality

Norddal is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The 943.5-square-kilometre (364.3 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Fjord Municipality in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative centre was the village of Sylte (also known as Valldal) in the Valldalen valley.

Norddal Municipality was the easternmost part of the Sunnmøre region along the border with Oppland county. Norddal covered an area with several distinct valleys and villages: Eidsdal and Norddal (Dalsbygda) in the south; Tafjord in the east; and Fjørå/Selboskarbygda and Sylte in the Valldalen valley in the north. Norwegian County Road 63 traverses the municipality from south to north, going through several tunnels in the mountains including the Stordal Tunnel. The Heggur Tunnel connects the isolated village of Tafjord with the rest of the municipality.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 943.5-square-kilometre (364.3 sq mi) municipality was the 116th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Norddal Municipality was the 345th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,645. The municipality's population density was 1.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.4/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 7% over the previous 10-year period.

The parish of Norddal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Historically, the district of Sunnylven was part of the parish of Norddal, but on 1 January 1838 when Norddal Municipality was established, Sunnylven Municipality was established as its own municipality, separate from Norddal. The municipal borders did not change after that time.

On 1 January 2020, Norddal Municipality (population: 1,670) and Stordal Municipality (population: 972) were merged to form the new Fjord Municipality.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Dale farm (Old Norse: Dalr) since the first Dale Church was built there. Historically, the parish was known as simply as Dale. Around the year 1600, the first element, nord, was added. This prefix means "northern". The last element of the name is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Norddalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Norddal, removing the definite form ending -en.

The coat of arms was granted on 16 February 1990 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Or, a strawberry branch gules" (Norwegian: På gull grunn ein raud jordbærstengel). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a red strawberry branch with a three-part leaf and three berries. This design was chosen because Norddal has a tradition for producing fruits such as apples, pears, and berries, notably strawberries. Wild strawberries can be found growing all over the municipality. The arms were designed by Astor Furseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Norddal Municipality. It was part of the Austre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

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