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Fjaler is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Dale. Other places in Fjaler include Espedal, Flekke, Folkestad, Guddal, and Hellevika.Fjaler was the birthplace of famous Norwegian poet Jakob Sande. The Red Cross Nordic United World College at Haugland, one of the twelve United World Colleges of the world is also located here, as well as the Nordic Art Centre at Dalsåsen. There is a bridge connecting Dale to Eikenes in Askvoll municipality, and buses depart from Dale to Førde, Rysjedalsvika, Hyllestad, and the western part of Fjaler. Førde Airport, Bringeland is located about 28 kilometres (17 mi) to the east, with flights to Oslo and Bergen.Ytre Holmedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality was identical to the Ytre Holmedal parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Holmedal, Dale, and Fjaler. In 1912, the name Ytre Holmedal was changed to Fjaler.[2]On 1 January 1990, some changes were made to the boundaries between the municipalities of Fjaler, Gaular, and Askvoll. The areas surrounding the villages of Fure, Folkestad, and Våge (population: 482) in Askvoll were transferred to Fjaler municipality. The areas surrounding the villages of Vårdal, Holmedal, Rivedal, and a part of Hestad (population: 731) in Fjaler were transferred to Askvoll municipality. The parts of Hestad that did not go to Askvoll (population: 90) were transferred to Gaular municipality.[3]The name (Old Norse: Fjalir) originally belonged to the fjord (now called the Dalsfjorden). The name is probably the plural form of Old Norse fjǫl (fjalir, earlier fjalar[4]), which means "board". The old name was revived in 1913; before then the name of the municipality was Ytre Holmedal.[5]The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 8 February 1991. The arms show two grey bridges on a red background. The two bridges represent the old, historic bridges in the municipality that are part of the old post road that goes through Fjaler on its way to Trondheim.[6]The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Fjaler. It is part of the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.All municipalities in Norway, including Fjaler, are responsible for primary education (up to and including 10th year), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fjaler is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]The mayor (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. Arve Helle of the Labour Party was re-elected mayor for the 2007-2011 term.[8]Fjaler municipality lies to the south of the Dalsfjord in the Sunnfjord region. The municipality of Askvoll lies to the north (across the fjord), the municipality of Gaular lies to the northeast, the municipality of Høyanger lies to the southeast, and the municipalities of Hyllestad and Solund lie to the southwest.