Hol is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 67.5 km2 municipality existed from 1919 until its dissolution in 1963. Hol was located on the island of Vestvågøya in the southeastern part of what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administrative centre was located in Stamsund. The main church for Hol was Hol Church which is located just outside of the village of Fygle. The village of Steine was also located in the municipality. Prior to its dissolution in 1963, the 67.5 km2 municipality was the 572nd largest by area out of the 705 municipalities in Norway. Hol Municipality was the 294th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 3,104. The municipality's population density was 46 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Hol was established on 1 July 1919 when the southeastern part of Buksnes Municipality was split off to become the new Hol Municipality. Initially, Hol Municipality had a population of 2,272. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Hol Municipality (population: 3,154) was merged with the neighboring Borge Municipality (population: 4,056), Buksnes Municipality (population: 4,416), and Valberg Municipality (population: 662) to create the new Vestvågøy Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hol farm since the first Hol Church was built there. The name is derived from the word which means "round hill".

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Hol Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Buksnes prestegjeld and the Lofoten prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography

The municipality was located on the southern part of the large island of Vestvågøya. Valberg Municipality was located to the northeast and Buksnes Municipality was to the north and west. The highest point in the municipality is the 738 m tall mountain Justadtinden, which was located on the border with neighboring Valberg Municipality.

Government

While it existed, Hol Municipality was 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 was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor of Hol was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Hol was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

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