Gimsøy is a former municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1856 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the northwestern part of what is now Vågan Municipality. The municipality consisted of the island of

Gimsøya Gimsøya is an island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Gimsøya is situated between the islands of Austvågøya and Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. The island has a population (2016) of 181. The European route E10 ...

and the northwestern part of the larger neighboring island of Austvågøya. The municipality also included 407 other small islands as well as hundreds of little islets and

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

, all of which are located in the Lofoten archipelago. 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 located at the village of

Gimsøysand Gimsøysand or Gimsøy is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern shore of the island of Gimsøya Gimsøya is an island in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Gims� ...

, where the

Gimsøy Church Gimsøy Church ( no, Gimsøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Gimsøysand on the island of Gimsøya. It is the main church for the ''Gimsøy og ...

is located. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 386th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Gimsøy Municipality was the 521st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,600. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Gimsøy was established in 1856 when it was split off from the large Vågan Municipality. Initially, Gimsøy had a population of 987. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Gimsøy Municipality (population: 1,551) was merged with the neighboring town of Svolvær (population: 3,952) and Vågan Municipality (population: 4,820) to form the new, larger Vågan Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of

( non, Gimista) since the first

was built there. The first element is the dative case of the word which is a contraction of the Old Norse words which means "sheep" and which means "place of residence". The island was historical used for sheep farming. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Gimsø''. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Gimsøy''.

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 one parish () within Gimsøy Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Gimsøy prestegjeld and the Lofoten prosti (

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 Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography

The municipality encompassed the whole island of

and the northwestern part of the island of Austvågøya plus many smaller islets and

surrounding the two large islands. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Breitinden on the island of Austvågøya.

Valberg Municipality Valberg is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1927 until 1963. The municipality covered the southeastern coast of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administra ...

and Borge Municipality were located to the west (on the island of Vestvågøya), Vågan Municipality was to the south (on the island of Austvågøya), and Hadsel Municipality (also on Austvågøya).

Government

While it existed, Gimsøy 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, welfare and other

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 and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor ( no, ordfører) of Gimsøy was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: * 1899–1904: L. Dyrkorn * 1905–1910: Nils Winther * 1911–1922: Johan O. Gjendahl * 1923–1931: Edvard Tellemann ( V) * 1932–1933: Sverre Thurn * 1933–1937: Håkon Benjaminsen * 1938–1942: Torgeir Walle ( Ap) * 1942–1944: Konrad Hov ( NS) * 1945–1955: Harald Dreyer * 1956–1963: Konrad Høydahl ( V)

Municipal council

The municipal council of Gimsøy was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimsoy Municipality Vågan Former municipalities of Norway 1856 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1856 Populated places disestablished in 1964