Fræna is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It was part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Romsdal Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the val ...

. The municipality was located on the

Romsdal peninsula Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the v ...

surrounding the

Frænfjorden Frænfjorden is a fjord in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The approximately long fjord flows from the village of Malme in the east to the Julsundet strait near the island of Gossa. The villages of Malme, Sylte, Elne ...

, the eastern shore of the

Julsundet Julsundet is a long strait connecting the Norwegian Sea to the Romsdalsfjorden. The strait is located about west of the town of Molde in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The strait runs through the municipalities of Fræna, Aukra, Molde, and ...

strait, and includes most of the

Hustadvika Hustadvika is a long section of coastline in Fræna Municipality in Romsdal, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the shipping route between the towns of Molde and Kristiansund. Unlike most of the Norwegian coast, there are no lar ...

area. It also included the now-abandoned

Bjørnsund Bjørnsund is an island group located about west of the village of Bud in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Located north of the island of Gossa in the Hustadvika coastal area, the main islands are connected via bridge ...

islands. The main village and

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 ...

in Fræna was

Elnesvågen Elnesvågen is the administrative centre of Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the Frænafjorden about north of the town of Molde, east of the village of Tornes, and northwest of the vi ...

with over 2,300 inhabitants.

Moxy Engineering Moxy Engineering is a Norwegian manufacturer of articulated haulers (dump trucks) for off-road use in the earth moving and construction industries. Moxy was founded by the industrialist Birger Hatlebakk, who had previously founded the Glamox fac ...

, Hustad Marmor, and Tine Meierier are all factories located in Elnesvågen. Other villages in Fræna included

Hustad Hustad is a village in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It lies along the Hustadvika coastal area. The village of Hustad is located in the Nerland urban area which covers about and has a population (2013) of 249. Hu ...

Bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

Tornes Tornes is a village in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the Julsundet strait at the mouth of the Frænfjorden. It is about west of the municipal center of Elnesvågen and about south of th ...

, Sylte,

Malme Malme or Malmefjorden is a village at the end of the Malmefjorden (an arm of the Frænfjorden) in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located southeast of the municipal center of Elnesvågen and about south ...

, and Aureosen. The area is nice for hiking, including the mountains are Heiane/

Lågheiane Lågheiane or Lågheia is a mountain ridge in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The ridge sits at an elevation of above sea level and it is part of the larger mountain Høgheitinden. From the top of the ridge, there is ...

and

Jendemsfjellet Jendemsfjellet is a mountain in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The cone-shaped mountain is located just northeast of the villages of Jendem and Hollingen (on the municipal border with Aukra Municipality Aukra is ...

. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 250th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Fræna is the 115th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,775. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is and its population has increased by 6.4% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Fræna was established in 1840 when it was separated from the municipality of Akerø. The original municipality was named ''Vaagø'' and it surrounded the

. Later the name was changed to ''Fræna''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, Bud Municipality (population: 1,610),

Hustad Municipality Hustad is a village in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It lies along the Hustadvika coastal area. The village of Hustad is located in the Nerland urban area which covers about and has a population (2013) of 249. Hus ...

(population: 2,196), and Fræna Municipality (population: 3,430) were merged to form a new, larger municipality of Fræna. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of

Eide Parallel ATA (PATA), originally , also known as IDE, is a standard interface designed for IBM PC-compatible computers. It was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. The connection ...

and Fræna merged into the new

Hustadvika Municipality Hustadvika is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Nordmøre and Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Elnesvågen. Other villages in the municipali ...

Name

The municipality was named after the

( non, Fræni). The meaning of the name is unknown, but it might be derived from ''frænn'' which means "bright" or "shiny". Before 1865, the parish and municipality were named ''Vaagø'' (and the main church was

Vågøy Church Vågøy Church ( no, Vågøy kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Vågøya at the entrance to the Frænfjorden. It is one of the t ...

, which also was historically spelled Vaagø). From 1865 to 1918, the name was written ''Frænen'', and since 1918 it has had its current spelling, ''Fræna''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 15 May 1995. The arms show three blue

waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

on a gold background. The arms were chosen to symbolize the municipality's connection to the sea.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had four parishes () within the municipality of Fræna. It is part of the

Molde domprosti Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of t ...

(arch-

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Møre The Diocese of Møre ( no, Møre bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center ...

Geography

The municipality of Fræna sits on the northwestern end of the

Romsdal Peninsula Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the v ...

. The

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

lies to the north, the Harøyfjorden,

strait, and

Aukra Municipality Aukra is municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdalen. The administrative centre is the village of Falkhytta, which is part of the Aukrasanden urban area. The municipality is made up of the island o ...

lie to the west,

Molde Municipality Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

lies to the south, and

Gjemnes Municipality Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship ...

and Eide Municipality lie to the east. The

cuts into the middle of the municipality. The coastal areas are low and marshy while the interior of the municipality is mountainous. Two of the more notable mountains are

and Heiane. The

islands lie off the northwestern coast of Fræna. They are now uninhabited, but the

Bjørnsund Lighthouse Bjørnsund Lighthouse ( no, Bjørnsund fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The lighthouse is located on the small island of Moøya in the Bjørnsund islands, about west of the village of Bu ...

is still in operation.

Government

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

() of Fræna was made up of 31 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

*http://www.frena.net - Homepage edited by a local enthusiast
Romsdals Budstikke

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraena Hustadvika (municipality) Former municipalities of Norway 1840 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020