Hitra

Hitra is a municipality and an island in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and several smaller islands, and is part of the Fosen region. With a land area of 571.5 km² (220.7 sq mi), the island of Hitra is the seventh largest island in mainland Norway, and the largest island south of the Arctic Circle.

The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fillan. Other villages include Andersskogan, Ansnes, Forsnes, Hestvika, Knarrlagsund, Kvenvær, Melandsjøen, Nordbotn, Sandstad, and Ulvan.

Hitra is famous in Norway for its large and dense population of Red Deer (as symbolised in its coat of arms — see image right). Hitra is a member of the International Island Games Association.

General information

Hitra was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1877, the northern district of Frøya (population: 3,949) was separated from Hitra to form a municipality of its own. On 1 January 1886, the southern and eastern parts of Hitra were separated into a new municipality of Fillan. This left Hitra with 2,241 residents. Then on 1 January 1913, the western part of Hitra was separated to form the new municipality of Kvenvær. This left Hitra with 1,439 residents. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Hitra, Kvenvær, Fillan, and Sandstad were merged to form a new, larger Hitra municipality. Prior to the merger, Hitra had 1,344 residents.