Hyllestad

Hyllestad is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Hyllestad. Other villages in the municipality include Sørbøvågen and Leirvik. Hyllestad municipality has existed since 1862 when it was created from parts of the neighboring municipalities of Askvoll and Lavik. Hyllestad is located on the north side of the Sognefjorden, near the mouth of the fjord. The municipality is the 280th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hyllestad is the 311th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,290. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 11.7% over the previous 10-year period. In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Hyllestad be closed. In the fourth quarter of 2020, there were more than 400 employees at Noryard, a shipyard. Hyllestad was created as a municipality in 1862. Two sub-parishes (sokn) from the Askvoll parish (Øn and Hyllestad) and one sub-parish (sokn) from the Lavik og Brekke parish (Bø) were merged to form a separate municipality which was named Hyllestad. The population at that time in Hyllestad was 2,475. On 1 January 1888, the Krakken farm (population: 17) on the northeastern corner of the island of Sula was transferred from Hyllestad to the neighboring municipality of Utvær. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created Vestland county after Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties were merged. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hyllestad farm (Hyllistaðir) since the first Hyllestad Church was built there. The first element comes from Hylli, the old uncompounded name of the nearby Hyllestadfjorden. This name is likely derived from the word hylli which means "quiet", "friendly", or "benevolent".