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is a municipality in the county of Møre og Romsdal, Norway.
The municipality was separated from Volda August 1, 1883. The municipalities of Hjørundfjord and Vartdal were merged with Ørsta January 1, 1964.

Contents

The name

Coat-of-arms

Geography

Economy

Communications

External links

The name

The municipality is named after Ørstafjorden (Old Norse ''Œrstr''). The meaning of the name is unknown.
Until 1918 the name was written ''Ørsten''.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1984). The three figures is meant to represent mountains reflecting in the fjord.

Geography

Of the total area, 48% (or 386 km²) is at an altitude of 600 meters or more above sea level.
Apart from the mountains, Ørsta's dominant geographical feature is fjords; Storfjorden in the north, Vartdalsfjorden and Ørstafjorden in the west, and Hjørundfjorden in the east. Only in the south is it connected by land to neighbouring Volda. Otherwise, it borders to Sula in the north, Hareid and Ulstein (by sea only) in the west, Sykkylven to the north-east, Stranda to the south-east and Sogn og Fjordane county to the south-southeast.
Population centres include Vartdal, Barstadvik, Hovdebygda, Sæbø, Åmdal and the administrative centre Ørsta, from which the municipality is named.
Ørsta is known as the birthplace of Ivar Aasen, Norwegian philologist and lexicographer, creator of the ''nynorsk'' language.
The municipality is also the heartland of the Sunnmørsalpene, a particularly rugged and wild area of mountains in the southern part of Møre og Romsdal. Prolific peaks include Slogen (1,564 m), Skårasalen (1,542 m), Kolåstinden (1,432 m), Ramoen (1,419 m), Saudehornet (1,303 m), and Romedalstinden (1,295 m).

Economy

Important sectors are industry, agriculture, commercial fishing and aquaculture. The first two are predominant in the village Ørsta and adjacent valleys. On the other hand, the northern part of the municipality has strong naval traditions, with Vartdal being the home of one of the largest factory trawler fleets in Norway.

Communications

These include Ørsta-Volda_airport at Hovdebygda, and the E39 highway which transsects the municipality in a north-south direction. Ørsta is linked to Sula by ferry at Festøy on its northernmost extreme; it is also linked to Ulstein by ferry at Rjånes, this, however, is set to be replaced by an underwater tunnel project.

External links

★ Official site of Ørsta Tourist Board