Hå


Hå is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varhaug. Other villages in Hå include Brusand, Hæen, Nærbø, Obrestad, Ogna, Sirevåg, and Vigrestad.
The municipality is the 281st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hå is the 67th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 19,649. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 11.4% over the previous 10-year period.
WWW Official Site𝕏 hakommune

General information

The parish of Haa was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1894, the municipality of Haa was dissolved and divided into two new municipalities: Nærbø and Varhaug. 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 Hå was recreated by merging of the neighboring municipalities of Nærbø, Varhaug, and Ogna. In local politics, the divisions between the three previous municipalities remain very visible.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Hå farm where the local church priest's parsonage was located. The river running past this farm is similarly named the Hååna, meaning the "Hå river". It is not known if the river is named after the farm or vice versa. The meaning of the original name is uncertain. It is possible that it comes from the plural dative case of the word which means "aftergrass". Ti may also come from the word which means "rowlock". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Haa with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Hå, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 5 July 1991. The official blazon is "Sable, a winch stand argent.". This means the arms have a black field and the charge is a winch stand. The winch stand has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. It is a special type of winch that has historically been used in this area to remove stones from the many farm fields. The arms were chosen to symbolize the hard living on the rocky soils of the municipality. A winch of this type is used locally for the removal of large stones from the soil for agricultural purposes. It's three legs also represent the three previous municipalities of Nærbø, Varhaug, and Ogna that were merged to creat Hå in 1964. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes within the municipality of Hå. It is part of the Jæren prosti in the Diocese of Stavanger.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
NærbøNærbø ChurchNærbø2005
NærbøOld Nærbø ChurchNærbø1834
OgnaOgna ChurchOgna1250
VarhaugVarhaug ChurchVarhaug1904

Government

Hå Municipality is responsible for primary education, 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 Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Hå is made up of 33 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 Hå :
  • 1964-1967: Erik Årsland
  • 1968-1969: Erik P. Skretting
  • 1970-1975: Kjell Lund
  • 1976-1979: Kåre Sandve
  • 1980-1983: Gabriel S. Rimestad
  • 1984-1985: Mindor Jelsa
  • 1986-1987: Rasmus Pollestad
  • 1988-1989: Kjell Lund
  • 1990-1991: Eldar Odland
  • 1992-1993: Ingvar Gausland
  • 1994-1995: Tobias Skretting
  • 1995-1999: Eldar Odland
  • 1999-2003: Gunnar Siqveland
  • 2003-2011: Terje Mjåtveit
  • 2011-2015: Mons Skrettingland
  • 2015-2023: Jonas Skrettingland
  • 2023-present: Andreas Bjorland

Geography

Hå municipality is located on the southwestern shore of Norway, along the North Sea. The municipality is located mostly in the very flat, coastal Jæren district. The southeastern part of the municipality begins to get a little hilly and rocky and it marks the border of the Dalane district. Much of the land in Hå is used for agriculture because of its flat landscape. The river Hååna runs through the municipality. The shoreline of the municipality is marked by the Kvassheim Lighthouse and Obrestad Lighthouse.

Climate

Hå has a temperate oceanic climate, also known as marine west coast climate. The average date for the last overnight freeze in spring is 16 April and average date for first freeze in autumn is 10 November giving a frost-free season of 207 days.

Transportation

The Sørlandet Line runs through the municipality, making several stops. The stations in Hå include Brusand Station, Nærbø Station, Ogna Station, Sirevåg Station, Varhaug Station, and Vigrestad Station.

Notable people