Høylandet

Høylandet is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Høylandet. Other villages include Kongsmoen and Vassbotna.

The 755 km2 municipality is the 150th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Høylandet is the 320th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,216. The municipality's population density is 1.7 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Høylandet was established on 1 January 1901 when it was separated from the large municipality of Grong. Initially, the population of Høylandet was 1,046. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Kongsmoen area (population: 221) of eastern Foldereid municipality was merged into Høylandet. On that same date the Galguften and Hauknes areas (population: 15) were transferred from Høylandet to neighboring Overhalla municipality. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named Høylandet (Høylǫnd). The first element is høy which means "hay". The last element is the plural form of lǫnd which means "land" or "region". Thus it means "the land/region where they grow hay". The name was historically spelled Hølandet or Høilandet.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 2 January 1990. The official blazon is "Vert, a swan argent rousant, armed sable" (I grønt en oppflygende sølv svane). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus). The swan 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 swan is also armed, which means the feet and beak are black. This design was chosen to symbolize of the large number of these swans that migrate through the area each year. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Høylandet. It is part of the Namdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Geography
There are several large lakes in Høylandet including Almåsgrønningen, Eidsvatnet, Grungstadvatnet, Øyvatnet, and Storgrønningen. The innermost part of the Foldafjord is located in northern Høylandet. Norwegian County Road 17 runs through the municipality from south to north through the central valley.

Government
Høylandet Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Høylandet is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors of Høylandet:


 * 1901–1916: Lorents Mørkved (V)
 * 1917–1922: Alexander Almaas (V)
 * 1923–1925: Ole P. Skarland
 * 1926–1932: Anders L. Mørkved (V)
 * 1933–1934: Knut Mørkved (Bp)
 * 1935–1940: Martin Mørkved (V)
 * 1941–1945: Knut Mørkved (NS)
 * 1945–1963: Martin Mørkved (V)
 * 1964–1983: Gunnleif Elden (Sp)
 * 1984–1991: Ole Flakken (Sp)
 * 1992–1993: Lars Otto Okstad (Sp)
 * 1994–1995: Hildbjørn Brøndbo (Ap)
 * 1995–2011: Lars Otto Okstad (Sp)
 * 2011–2023: Hege Nordheim-Viken (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Ole Joar Flaat (Sp)



Notable people

 * Lorents Mørkved (1844 in Markved – 1924) a farmer and politician, Mayor of Høilandet for 16 years
 * Ivar Aavatsmark (1864 in Høylandet – 1947) a Norwegian officer, politician & Govt. minister
 * Salamon Mørkved (1891 in Høylandet – 1978) a Norwegian forester and politician
 * Ivar Skarland (1899 in Høylandet – 1965) a Norwegian anthropologist
 * Pål Tyldum (1942 -) Norwegian cross country skier