Åkra is a former municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1892 until 1965 and it encompassed the central part of the western coast of the island of Karmøy. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

was the village of Åkrehamn.

History

The municipality of ''Aakra'' was established on 1 January 1892 when it was split off from the municipality of Skudenes. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 1,962. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Åkra was dissolved due to recommendations by the Schei Committee. Åkra was merged with the neighboring municipalities of

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient ...

, Skudenes,

Stangaland Stangaland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality of Stangaland existed from 1909 until 1965 when it was merged into the newly created Karmøy Municipality. The ...

, and Torvastad and with the towns of Kopervik and Skudeneshavn to form the new, larger municipality of Karmøy. Before the merger Åkra had a population of 6,008.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Aakre'' farm ( non, Akrar) since the first

Åkra Church Åkra Church ( no, Åkra kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Karmøy Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the town of Åkrehamn on the western coast of the island of Karmøy. It is the main church for the Å ...

was built there. The name comes from the plural form of which means "field" or "

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Aakre''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Aakra''. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Aakra'' with the digraph " Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Åkra'', using the letter Å instead.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services, unemployment,

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Åkra was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Attractions

The

Old Åkra Church Old Åkra Church ( no, Åkra gamle kirke) is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Karmøy Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the town of Åkrehamn located on the western coast of the island of Karmøy. It for ...

() dates back to 1821. It was built of wood and has 320 seats. The church was restored in 1852 and 1899. Rogaland Fishery Museum () is situated on the harbor in Åkrahamn. It contains a restored

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

works with a collection of artifacts and equipment associated with the local fishing and shipping industries.

Jostein Grindhaug Jostein Grindhaug (born 20 February 1973) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. Hailing from Åkrehamn, he spent most of his active career with FK Haugesund. Playing career He started his career in Åkra IL, and was signed by then-sec ...

is a famous man from Åkra. He is know for his impressive 3rd place with FK Haugesund in 2013 when he was the manager that lead them to Europe for the first time. If you walk in the streets of Åkra you mind find him lurking around, and drinking beer at the pub Gutenberg.

References

External links

Åkrehamn Veksts website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aakra Karmøy Former municipalities of Norway 1892 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1892